A Cold on Christmas
by Bovine Beauty
Summary: HOTR. Three days before Christmas, Grace falls sick to a terrible cold. Soon Lucky Jack decides to cheer her up with a story of a cow who lost her way in the woods one snowy night. The events take place after Life Before Paradise.
1. Morning Fever

_All characters, except those not mentioned in the movie are the property of the Walt Disney Company and are used without permission. Even though I do believe that they deserve much better than what they get recently these days._

**Chapter 1: Morning Fever**

The temperatures in the Midwest had fallen down slowly below forty degrees since autumn season had been coming close to an end. First came the days of the falling leaves that lost their green color. And soon after a while, the rain transformed into snowflakes sprinkling everywhere in the west like a giant salt shaker. During the winter season, blizzards in the old west were often deadly and created dangerous obstacles for animals and pioneers; especially during traveling.

But today, the snowstorm was nowhere beyond catastrophic and never would be; at least not for another month. It was now in the middle of December where snowflakes covered the entire fields and rooftops on the Patch of Heaven farm. And it was only three days before Christmas Day; a time for giving and generosity.

"Wake up girls, today's the day we look for a Christmas tree," Pearl's voice boomed, opening the doors to the cows den that revealed the outside of the farm blanketed by three inches of snow. "Aren't we gonna have such fun." For winter garments, Pearl wore a green skirt down to her ankles, brown boots, a white shirt underneath her green shawl, light brown gloves and a green bonnet tied underneath her chin.

Maggie woke up with a start and rushed over to Pearl so that she would put on the earmuffs and gloves that she had handmade herself. The new bovine truly enjoyed the winter season for many fun reasons such as the snowball fights she once enjoyed back at her old home with Abner and the other cattle. But today was going to be different. She and the other two girls would take a walk out in the nearby forest to find out which tree would be best suited for decorating. Although it might sound a bit strange for three cows to follow a woman while chopping down a tree, the girls would never leave Pearl's side while doing this sort of activity in case something dangerous were to happen on the way.

"There, now go out and play safely," Pearl shooed Maggie out by giving her a friendly pat on the back. "Your turn Mrs. C."

Up on her four feet, Mrs. Calloway had walked up only halfway to be interrupted by intense coughing coming from the far corner in the back. Even Pearl noticed a shuffle hiding beneath the hay.

"Oh dear me, I wonder what's the matter."

Dropping the winter garments she had intended to put on Mrs. C, Pearl rushed over in haste and threw aside the hay to find that it was only Grace. Except this time, the sweet heifer started coughing harder as if she were engulfed in a thick cloud of breathless smoke. In a shock, Pearl found that her eyes were pink and watery. Tiny beads of sweat covered her face. Her eyes were open, but she could barely gaze up at Pearl as the elderly woman removed her gloves to feel her forehead. It was frightfully hot.

"Why Grace, you're burnin' with a fever!" Pearl shrieked. "This is awful. Stay there while I go fetch a blanket, then the doctor!"

And with that, she dashed out of the doors to run inside her house and come back in with a large blanket made of white wool. Throwing it over her body and up to her shoulders, Pearl turned to Mrs. Calloway before she started her way out the door.

"Mrs. C, please look after dear Grace for me," she urged. "I have to run to town to find the doctor. I'll be right back." With that, she zoomed out the door and onto the trail.

"For heavens sake Grace, how many times do I have to remind you to dry yourself off when you come in from the snow?" Mrs. C asked firmly. "Wet fur can attract any sort of terrible sickness at this time of year."

"I'm sorry Mrs. C," Grace said weakly, her voice sounded hoarse. "I guess I got too carried away with wanting to play outside a little while longer."

"Hey what's the holdup in here?" Maggie stood by the doors to check up on her two companions.

"Grace is not feeling well I'm afraid," Mrs. C responded, peering directly at Grace's eyes to see how terrible they looked. "And I don't think she'll be playing outside today. She'll need to stay in here, is that clear?"

"Yes," Grace said hoarsely, coughing intensely.

"And for goodness sake, cover your mouth when you cough," she reminded. "You don't want anyone else to catch cold."

"I know," Grace coughed, this time covering her mouth with her front legs.

"Wait, are you sure it's a fever?" Maggie asked, hoping that the illness was not serious enough to be life threatening. "It could be something else like an allergic reaction." She stepped back from the doors in fear of catching whatever affected Grace.

"And since when does an allergic reaction leave her in this sort of condition?"

"Ugh…" Maggie was at a loss for words, rolling her eyes back. "I don't know." Truth was that she knew so little about the effects some allergic reactions would have on those with different allergies. Except that she knew if anyone was allergic to pollen, dust, or pepper, it would turn the nose red and cause hysterical sneezing.

"In there doc!"

The girls turned to see Pearl rush back with the town doctor, Dr. Ralph Smith running alongside of her with a black suitcase in his left hand. It was the same man who had come to check up on Grace the last time she went a little berserk to find out the cause for her behavior. Since he was the only doctor in town, his job was to inspect both people and animals whenever needed. Pearl was known to be a fast runner when it came to emergencies.

"Uh oh, town doctor coming through." Maggie moved aside and disappeared from the den.

His eyes widened in bewilderment to see how badly Grace appeared under the weather. Before getting started, he instructed Pearl to move Mrs. Calloway out of the den so that she wouldn't get in the way of observing or at risk of being sickened. Closing the doors from inside, Pearl watched anxiously as Dr. Smith looked into both her eyes and ears. What if Grace had really been sickened with an illness that was incurable and beyond a real doctor's help? Trying not to think of that, her fingernails dug into her palms to see the doctor peer down Grace's throat while holding her tongue down with a small stick. She wanted to move closer to Grace, but she dared not to interfere at this time until he let her know that it was alright. The heifer's throat was red inside as he mentioned. Next he took out a thermometer and carefully placed it underneath her tongue. The seconds seemed like hours as the doctor waited and checked his watch to see how long it would take to finish. After a while, he took it out and found that Grace had a high temperature of one hundred and two degrees.

"My goodness, that's a high temperature she's got!" Dr. Smith wailed, slapping his cheek. "I would advise you not to let her step one foot outside this den or the temperature will go higher."

Pearl nodded at his advice before he continued to check Grace for other serious symptoms. His fingers burned when he felt her forehead and noticed how hard she coughed. In his suitcase, he pulled out a needle preparing to give her a shot. Her eyes widening in horror, Grace attempted to move from her spot, yet the aches in her body preventing her from doing so.

"Easy now girl," Dr. Smith said earnestly. "A simple needle don't hurt that much. Just hold still."

Remaining calmly still, Grace flinched a bit the moment when the needle pricked at her right front shoulder. Although it didn't hurt too much, she still hated the touch of that needle.

"See that wasn't so bad now," assured Dr. Smith, rubbing her head and smiling. Reluctantly he stood up and asked for Pearl to talk with him outside.

Grace turned her aching head slowly and watched through her hurtful eyes as Pearl followed Dr. Smith outside and closed the doors behind. Unable to hear what the two were talking about, she let out a soft sigh soon followed by a cough.

"Oh what a day to spend the holiday season," she moaned under her breath. "Three days until Christmas and I'm stuck inside this den. It can't possibly be that bad."

Two days before this, Grace remembered when she thought her throat felt a little sore and her head became heavy while still playing with the piglets, Maggie, and Mrs. Calloway. But she reckoned that those conditions were from all the excitement and assumed to Mrs. Calloway that she was just tired when asked what was wrong. But Mrs. Calloway remained unconvinced. Sure she dried off every now and then, but not well enough to keep the cold air from seeping in her hide. Soon afterward, her nose became stuffy, and her throat turned sore. Every time she swallowed, her ears and neck ached terribly. In fact, every muscle in her body hurt too much for her to move her back legs as they were numb from a bit of coldness inside. Despite the warmth of the hay and wool blanket covering them, Grace felt them wobble a bit as if she were trapped in a pile of snow. Grace faced the wall to her right and coughed some more. Unable to remember the last time she came down with something, she was both curious and anxious to know what Dr. Smith was telling Pearl outside. But because of her aching ears, all she could make out was mumbling.

"I'm afraid the poor girl has come down with a bad case o' the flu," answered Dr. Smith, rubbing his spectacles. "And winters the worst time o' year to be catchin' them. Especially round Christmas time."

"What can be done doc?" Pearl asked, adjusting her warm green shawl for better warmth over her shoulders.

"Well, the best way to care for her is to keep her indoors until she can move again," he replied, fishing into his black suitcase to pull out a large bottle. "You'll need to have her take this remedy at least twice a day; two spoonfuls to be exact. It'll help bring down the fever." He handed Pearl the bottle and a spare thermometer whenever she needed to check Grace's temperature. "Remember to keep the doors closed durin' the day or else the cold air will expose her to pneumonia. That's a real threat. Give her plenty o' sleep and check up on her every now and then to see any improvement in her health. And yah might wanna place a small wet cloth over her burnin' forehead."

"Thanks doctor, I'll do just that."

She shook hands with the doctor to thank him for his help and advice. But Dr. Smith had a few more words to say before he left and closed his suitcase.

"Feed her plenty o' healthy snacks and I'll come on by tomorrow to check up on her. And it's best to give those other two cows at least one spoonful o' that medicine so that they don't catch the flu. Do it each night until the girl is better. I could be wrong, but it seems she'll have to spend Christmas in bed. But who knows, maybe she'll be lucky by then."

Pearl thanked him once more before he finally headed back on the road leading to Chugwater. He couldn't stay any longer knowing that it was his job to be at the office in case some of the other folks in town got sick with the same flu that Grace did. Wintertime was definitely the worst of times to be catching them. He secretly hoped that there would not be too many patients to treat; especially when he was the one and only town doctor.

Her grateful smile faded when Pearl sighed sadly and decided to go back inside the den to break the disappointing news to Grace. And she thought it would be another exciting day. She kneeled down on one knee and stroked Grace's head slowly with a sad frown.

"I'm sorry Grace," she said softly. "But Dr. Smith says you can't come outside until the fever is gone. Otherwise you'll catch pneumonia. I know you were lookin' forward to the Christmas tree hunt, but you're way too sick to come along. It looks like only Maggie and Mrs. C will come with me today. Here, better take this medicine while we're out." Pouring the liquid onto a silver spoon, she brought it close to Grace's mouth. "Open wide now." Feeling too terrible to protest, Grace opened her mouth to allow Pearl to spoon in the medicine. Her eyes squinted at the unpleasant taste in her mouth, yet she still opened up to another spoon. The more she squinted, the more the pain built up in her burning head. "That should do. Try to rest now. We'll be back before dawn."

Grace rolled over with her back turned to Pearl. _What could be worse to start the fun day only to have it delayed by morning fever_? She thought sadly. Of course, she didn't mean to be rude to Pearl, yet Grace couldn't help feeling disappointed with not being able to go on the Christmas tree hunt. Not only that, but it felt as if Christmas might not feel so cheerful and merry after all. And she loved Christmas.

Noticing her form of movement, Pearl could only rub her gloved hand repeatedly on Grace behind the neck and shoulders. "I know you're feelin' disappointed right now," she whispered. "Don't take it so hard. Things like this just happen sometimes when you don't expect it. And I'm sorry it had to be today. But let me assure you that it won't be like this forever. Now get some rest." Then she got up and left the den. Grace kept her gaze directly on the wall while hearing the doors closed.

* * *

**AN**: _This is my second HOTR Christmas story that I had in mind for many months now. I plan to put a few chapters up, even if it might be after Christmas. December can be a very busy month when you're trying to get everything ready by then, so that's why I haven't been able to upload this lately. But this story won't be as long as my other stories. Anyway, hope you all have a Merry Christmas this year._


	2. Storytime

**Chapter 2: Story time**

"Come along girls, we'll have to leave while Grace is restin' herself," Pearl motioned for Maggie and Mrs. Calloway to follow to another opening with a medium axe over her shoulder. "But we can't let her sickness bring us down."

The girls glanced over their shoulders to stare at the closed doors where an ill Grace had to spend the entire day while they were going out to find a tree. Knowing Grace longer than Maggie did, Mrs. Calloway knew how much Grace enjoyed picking out which tree was the best for the farm last December. Decorating and singing carols off-key was her way of getting into the Christmas spirit. Now she almost felt sorry to go off and have fun while Grace might be feeling miserable. This hunt might not be any fun without Grace, but she knew they still had a tree to bring home. Maggie on the other hand didn't know how to feel about it. Part of her felt pity for hearing that Grace was dreadfully ill and wouldn't be coming, while another part of her still desired to go on the hunt and not let negative emotions stop her from enjoying the entire day.

"Poor Grace," Maggie whispered to Mrs. C. "She really wanted to come along, didn't she." She sighed. "What a bad time to fall under the weather."

"I know, but maybe after we come back, we'll find a way to cheer her up," Mrs. C suggested. "All we can do is hope that she might be better by Christmas." The proper cow could already tell by the tone of Maggie's voice that she felt as pitiful as she did. She did not mean to be harsh with Grace. Only she still believed that sometimes you had to be a little strict with your loved ones to protect them; whether it meant drying yourself off when coming in, playing safely, or not being allowed to enter dangerous territories alone. But the least the family could do was hope and pray that the illness won't be as terrible as they believed. Christmas was still coming.

During the rest of the afternoon, Grace slept despite her throat being sore. Even though she had wished that she was with the girls, Grace felt kind of glad that she could have all the sleep she desired now that the fever made her dead-tired. A lit lantern hung from a nail embedded in the wooden post. It was strong enough to keep it from falling and breaking into a fire. The warm glow served enough warmth to keep out the coldness surrounding her. Due to her stuffy nose, Grace struggled to breathe through her mouth which wasn't easy. There was never a time on Patch of Heaven when Grace had to stay indoors all day, except when she had suffered from depression and self-pity because of that horrible nightmare of her cruel owner. Her negative feelings caused her to fear stepping foot outside again if he should be waiting. So far, the Christmas spirit miraculously lifted her out of that fear when she realized that Christmas was not a time for fear, anger, and doubt. It was a time for joy, cheer, and forgetting all your troubles, even if times were hard. Grace coughed as her throat tickled inside. Today did not feel so cheery for her.

"Hello, did I hear somebody coughin' today?"

Awoken by a familiar voice in the den, Grace lifted her head a little startled and forgetting that her neck ached.

"Who's in here…ouch!" she winced at the pain and fell back down. Her voice turned a bit ghastly thanks to her sore throat. "I'm trying to rest my aching bones."

"It's me!" It was Lucky Jack calling out, popping out from a big pile of hay on the other side from Grace. "The others told me you was sick, so I thought I come check on yah."

"I'm alright," Grace replied weakly, covering her mouth while she coughed. "How did you get in?"

"Through the small hole behind all this hay. Had to dig deep a little to squeeze through, but I'm alright," Jack slid off the hay as if he were sliding down a mountain of snow. "So, how are yah really feelin' today?"

"Huh, awful that is," she moaned, her head facing the other direction away from Jack. "And I thought it was gonna be another fun day today. Instead I'm stuck in here miserably while everybody is having a holly jolly Christmas." Her tone sounded bitter and cold. Ever since that nightmare happening, it made Grace feel like a different bovine with a changed personality.

"Now that's no way to be talkin' durin' the holidays," Jack stated firmly, slapping his hands together. "Look on the bright side. At least you're not sick with malaria or cholera. O' course I never heard o' any bovine catchin' cholera, but still…"

"Take a look at my sight!" Grace shrieked, lifting her head up with her voice only up to a loud whisper. "Does having a fever make me wanna feel jolly? No, it makes me wanna fall asleep and miss out on everything." She dropped herself in the hay, regretting what she said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"Listen, everyone is already worried bout yah. Not only cause you're sick, but they're afraid that you're just gonna let disappointment overtake yah this year. Don't know what else to tell yah, but if yah think you're the only one, who's been through a hard time, guess again."

Unable to face Jack, Grace started to feel a little convinced by his words. Yet all she did was let out a hard cough before sniffling.

"Well I see with the way you're talkin', you've allowed disappointment to fill yah already," Lucky Jack sighed. This wasn't going to be easy for him, even if he knew that comforting wasn't always his type of thing. But he just had to do something to cheer up Grace and lift up her spirits. "But maybe while you're in here, why don't I tell yah a story?"

"A story?" Grace turned carefully at Lucky Jack with a bit of light in her heart. "What kind of story?" If there was one thing she could do while sick, it was listening to stories. And she loved every one of them; except scary campfire tales.

"Glad yah asked that question missy," Lucky Jack sat himself on the hay a few feet away from Grace to avoid being coughed on. "It's a Christmas tale full o' adventure, magic, and a bit o' sadness. Don't mind that last word; it's just how the tale goes." He assured. "It's about a young country heifer named Julia who lived a hard life on a ranch far away. She was a softhearted gal, yet her owner Mr. Hanks was a coldhearted, arrogant scoundrel who'd sometimes give her a beatin' as his way o' takin' out his frustration or whenever she rebelled at his commands. But none o' that could change who she was, until that one night when she was abandoned out in the cold with no where to go."

"That's terrible," Grace said pitifully. _Mr. Hanks sounds just as mean as Lewis_. "How did she get out of that blizzard?"

"Uh, why don't we save that for later?" Jack advised. "Cause I'm gonna start from the beginnin'."

* * *

_It was the month of December in the state of Wyoming where the Horse Shoe Ranch stood in the midst of the big woods. The owner, Mr. Calvin Hanks was a cattle rancher in his forties. He was a tall muscular and brown-haired man who had once fed, groomed, and took great care of the cattle and horses properly. But that was ten years ago when he had a family of a wife and a baby girl. While riding in a stagecoach back from a nearby town, one of the wheels lost its parts causing the wagon to turnover and roll down a hill crashing into a tree. Mr. Hanks suffered from several injuries in his arms, legs, and a bump on the head, yet somehow he survived. But his wife and one month old baby girl were not so lucky. They were buried in a cemetery the day after that tragedy. Months after Mr. Hanks healed from his wounds caused by the accident; he turned cold-hearted, bitter, and violent toward most of the livestock. He then turned to boozing which only increased his vile behavior. Whenever he believed that one of the cows or horses has been bad, he would drag them into a large woodshed for a real beating. Then he would starve them as punishment. Of course, most of the larger animals were difficult to drag due to their heavy weight and strong resistance in being pulled. So when that happened, Mr. Hanks would just punish him or her right in the stable. Usually the horses fought back when he entered, yet it only increased his anger further as he got back on his feet and whipped the animal harder._

_One particular cream colored coated heifer by the name of Julia rolled over sideways in her stall, attempting to get some sleep that evening. She had a slim figure, a little different from the other cows in the barn. She was a gentle and kindhearted gal, yet the young heifer was known to be stubborn and feisty when it came to being mistreated by Mr. Hanks. Born only two years ago, her mother died giving birth and she never understood how or why Mr. Hanks would give her a few whippings for accidentally knocking over a bucket or punish her for no reason. But by far she had had enough of this brutality and wished that she would someday seek freedom beyond the woods. It pained her deeply to hear the cries of the others while being punished for something they didn't do. Not only that, but it angered her to witness him dragging a younger calf or foal to the large woodshed. The crack of a whip echoed often along with the animal crying. Somehow or other, she had to find a way of escape and be free of Mr. Hanks' brutality forever. But what about the others? How would she help them?_

"_Someday, I'm gonna find a way to break free o' this dreaded hell hole I'm forced to live in," Julia spat, kicking a tin empty pail against the gates of her stall. "Mr. Hanks' is nothin' more than a despicable bad tempered old tyrant."_

"_Don't be takin' it so hard Julia," Susannah, the brown jersey assured her. "Although Mr. Hanks is no longer a carin' man, he still feeds us and cleans our stables as long as we don't cause trouble. That's somethin' to be thankful for." Ever since Julia's mother died, Susannah had been left to nurse and feed the little darling back to good health for at least a year. To her, Julia was the closest she had to raising a child._

"_Thankful, thankful?" Julia shrieked. She peered through the stall bars straight at Susannah. "Does being whipped n' starved afterward for no reason make life in this ranch a blessin'?" feeling tears under her eyelids; Julia was quiet, catching her breath. "How can I feel thankful around a man like Mr. Hanks?"_

"_Don't know honey," Susannah replied softly, hoping to calm Julia by licking the top of her forehead for comfort. "But don't go on dreamin' that somethin' will come along to save us; because usually things like that never happen for us livestock." Knowing how judgmental Julia was of Mr. Hanks' vile behavior, the jersey would find ways to speak with her bravely and tone down her hatred of their owner._

"_It might just be that way if we don't try," Julia whispered to herself which is what Susannah was unable to hear. _

_In her heart, Julia felt that things here would only stay the same if the other livestock don't stand up for themselves. But in a tight situation, there was the price of punishment which often led to sickness and death. She couldn't truly blame some of the horses and cows for being afraid of standing up to Mr. Hanks unless they were to face an even crueler punishment. Two months ago, one horse had suffered from physical injuries and malnutrition leading Mr. Hanks to put him out of his misery by a handgun. It was the worst day and saddest moments of everyone's lives to deal with the death of a close friend._

"_Here's your food heifer."_

_Julia snapped back to attention by the creak of the gates opening with Mr. Hanks entering with a bucket of grain in his right hand to place down for her. It appeared half full, but nevertheless it was still food. So Julia went forward to eat it and pretended that she didn't care of Mr. Hanks' presence. In fact, she couldn't bear to look him straight in the eye at all. But perhaps Susannah was right about one thing. As long as she or the others didn't start trouble, then everything would be alright. _

_But just when a drunken Mr. Hanks was on his way out the barn door, he noticed that his pockets were empty. He whirled around and faced the rows of livestock with a furious expression on his face._

"_ALRIGHT, WHICH ONE O' YAH BOVINES TOOK MY MONEY!" he shrieked at the top of his lungs, nearly loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood of forest animals. "Come on; step forward if yah have it."_

_Julia rolled her eyes in annoyance at his stupidity while munching. Like what use would a bovine have for money? The only thing it would be good for was eating it probably. On the contrary, humans needed that money to buy food for them and other important things. Chewing away at the grain, Julia paused short when her tongue felt some kind of papery material with an unsatisfied taste. Spitting it out in the bucket, she found it was some kind of green paper crumpled into a small ball and drenched with her spit._

"_What'd yah got in your mouth girl?"_

_Julia turned around to find that Mr. Hanks suddenly appeared and entered her stall as if he were a magician. Pushing her aside, the brown haired man inspected the bucket and picked up the wet ball of paper. Unrolling it, it turned out to be the three dollars he had been missing from his pocket. He glared madly back at Julia to the wet money. Enraged at what she had done, Mr. Hanks gave her a furious glare with his fists clenched._

"_So, it was you wasn't it?" he bellowed, stepping toward Julia who was backing up in alarm. "Tryin' to swallow my money?"_

_Julia was taken aback by that accusation as her eyes widened in shock. How dare he accuse her of such an act as stealing. How that money slipped into her bucket of grain was a mystery. Perhaps Mr. Hanks must have stupidly dropped it by mistake while pouring the bag of grain. Swallowing fearfully, Julia guessed what her owner had already in mind for her as he slipped the money in his vest pocket and threw a lasso around her neck in a tight grip._

"_Come along bovine!" he growled, opening the gate and closing it after Julia had been pulled out. "Time for a trip to the woodshed. The place where thieves go to be punished." With a yank on the rope, all the cattle in the barn could only look on pitifully at poor Julia as the mean-spirited Mr. Hanks dragged her toward the large woodshed for an unfair punishment._


	3. Sleepless Night

**Chapter 3: Sleepless Night**

"Oh no, poor Julia," Grace said hoarsely, her voice still weak. "Mr. Hanks didn't really whip her, did he?" This part of the story made her feel nervous. Lucky Jack sighed.

"Yes, I'm afraid he did," he answered honestly. "Remember, its how the story goes. But for some folks who've been through this sort o' thing, there are some things that hurt more than the whippin'."

Grace allowed Lucky Jack to continue with the story without interrupting. Even if she didn't like what was about to happen to Julia, she still wanted to hear the rest of what happens after that.

* * *

_The large woodshed stood next to the cabin where Mr. Hanks had slept and cooked food for himself. Julia followed behind him obediently. She did not want him to punish her with no food for three days, because that's what he had done to her twice when she tore up his hat and stomped on his foot in anger._

"_Get in there yah pickpocket!" he shouted, shoving Julia inside the woodshed after unlocking the door. Entering in there after her and locking up again, he added. "Stay where yah are and maybe I might go easy on yah."_

_Tying the rope around a large wooden pole that went up above Julia's head, the heifer stood in her spot, fear clutching her heart. There were often times when she didn't fear the whipping, knowing it did not hurt as much because of her owner using a poor whip. But now she was worried Mr. Hanks would give more than twenty due to his rage of losing money. Some animals had difficulty moving when given the amount of fifty or seventy. Julia would tell herself to be brave whenever this happened, even if it was hard to do so._

"_Get down on your rump and sit up straight!" Mr. Hanks snapped, slapping his palm on her bottom to force her to sit. Julia sat straight with her head facing the ceiling of the woodshed. "I wonder how I should whip yah this time, hmm."_

_Julia glanced a little over her shoulder to the right seeing that Mr. Hanks was deciding which device was stronger. A bullwhip, a leather whip, a strap, and a rawhide whip hung together on a hanger._

"_Hmm, all these look cunnin' enough, but this one will do." Picking out the rawhide whip, he turned and walked back over to Julia smacking the end against his palm. "Let's see, for the price o' stealin' money, I'd say sixty strikes should be it."_

_Bracing herself for the inevitable, Julia shut her eyes tight as the whipping began. She often winced and grunted as the first ten lashed upon her back like a flash of burning fire. Her hooves slid a bit beneath the ground struggling to prevent her body from falling. The pain of the next ten lashes went through her head as tears poured out from her closed eyes. Feeling a bit of blood running from her cuts, Julia could only sit and hope that this punishment would be over and done with so that she could go back into her stall and go right to sleep._

_As the lash reached thirty, Julia could now feel her front hooves slipping madly, unable to hold still any longer. But Julia still struggled to stay up, despite the fact that she was pleading in her mind for Mr. Hanks to take it easy on the whipping and not overdo it. But the more Julia moaned, the harder Mr. Hanks kept whipping by the time he reached forty. A few brand new cuts had some blood oozing slowly. Julia's hide was still pretty much strong than from when she was a calf, but she could still feel the fiery cuts burn as the whip went up to forty seven. It was almost over._

_However, the fiftieth set her off as Julia resisted the struggle to stay still. Her quivering legs gave out and she slipped onto the ground. Angered by her fall, Mr. Hanks ordered her to sit back up and wait until her punishment was over. Threatening her with eighty lashings, Julia sorrowfully waited out as he carried out the last ten strikes of intense pain while keeping count in his head. Breathing heavily, Julia flinched from the cuts seeping in, wishing that Mr. Hanks didn't have to hit her so hard. _

_Reaching sixty, the whipping was finally over and done with. Glaring at the rawhide whip, Mr. Hanks noticed that the tip was stained with her blood. First thing he did was clean the whip with a piece of cloth and place it back on the hanger all curled up with the other whips._

"_Now I hope I've gotten through to you this time!" Mr. Hanks spoke dreadfully in her ear, standing beside Julia on the left. "But because you've caused me a bit o' trouble and money on this ranch, I've decided there's one last thing on how to deal with yah."_

_Julia angrily refused to look in his direction. She wondered what he meant by saying that there's one last thing on how to deal with her. Was he planning to put her down, whip her everyday as a reminder who's boss, or sell her off to some other ranch faraway? Whatever it was, she didn't like the sound of it one bit._

"_Don't worry bovine, you'll find out tomorrow," he hissed, untying the end of the rope from the post and dragging her back out the entrance door._

_Outside, tiny snowflakes were falling along with the soft wind blowing across Julia's sore back, soothing parts of the pain away. But it did nothing to heal her pride and anxiety growing within her. To her, those negative feelings were hurting more than the amount of whippings she had been given. When Mr. Hanks led her back inside the cattle barn, some of the cows gasped at the marks spread over her hide, unable to believe that the man would punish her cruelly because of something of his own fault. Julia's face blushed with shame and humiliation._

"_In you go," Mr. Hanks barked, opening the gate to her stall. He removed the rope from her neck and forced her back in with a slap on the hindquarters. "And good night."_

_The moment he walked out of the barn, Julia turned her eyes to the bucket she had eaten from and accidentally found Mr. Hanks' money. Fuming, the heifer kicked it against the corner spilling out the grain. Then she pawed at the dirt violently like a mad bull._

_Hearing a commotion in the stall next to her, Susannah took notice that Julia was back inside and throwing an angry tantrum which was becoming nearly loud enough to attract all the other cows' attention. She had been in too much of a fury kicking and pawing to listen to Susannah attempting to call out her name. Finally Susannah had had enough and shouted at the top of her lungs._

"_JULIA!!"_

_She shouted in a voice high enough to shake the whole cattle barn to the horse barn. All the other cattle stopped what they were doing and turned their heads in the direction where the shouting had taken place. At this moment, Julia's tantrum came to a halt. Staring down in shock at her quivering legs, Julia realized that her anger had taken control and turned her into a wild animal; especially when she noticed the messy stall of thrown hay and kicked pail of grain. Allowing herself to take deep heavy breaths, she turned and moved over to Susannah, ashamed of what she had done._

"_I didn't do it," she sobbed, tears filling her eyes. "I didn't steal his money. It must've just somehow fallen outta his pocket and into my food, honest."_

"_I know yah didn't do it honey," Susannah told her sympathetically, sticking her head out between the bars and nuzzling Julia's neck softly. "None of us bovines have such use for money. Even if we did, it would only be good for sleepin' on, not for spendin'. I wish I knew what else to say other than Mr. Hanks bein' wrong to punish you."_

"_But why did he have to do it?" Julia's wet eyes were blazed as she sat on her hindquarters while leaning her head against the bars. "In fact, if he used to be so kind, then why doesn't he just stay that way?"_

"_To be honest, I don't know," Susannah replied honestly. "But I do know yah did nothin' wrong to deserve what happened. No one in this barn deserves that kind o' treatment. Humans are such strange creatures indeed." She allowed Julia to let out her grief and sorrows through the tears she shed._

"_I hate myself Susannah," Julia choked, feeling a painful lump growing in her throat. "I wish I was never born. Then maybe I wouldn't have to go through all this. I hate livin' here and I especially hate Mr. Hanks. In other words, I don't think he's that human." Her tone turned bitter._

"_Why Julia, don't talk like that," Susannah spoke firmly, a bit shocked from what Julia said. "Listen to what you're sayin'. You're allowin' hate to fill your heart whole. Don't do that. Otherwise there'd be no more room left for love, carin', or gentleness." She licked tenderly behind Julia's head and neck. "I need yah to keep your heart filled with love and gentleness not only for me, but for all the others in this barn, not hate for Mr. Hanks." Her head nuzzled and stroked Julia's neck some more as her voice turned soft. "And don't hate yourself. Those who hate themselves do terrible things to others without even realizing it. The same way Mr. Hanks punishes us cruelly. That's what hate does. You're better than that."_

_Julia's eyes turned a bright pink from the many tears she shed. She wanted to dip her face in the bucket of water to clear them off, but remained still to allow Susannah to lick the wounds between her shoulders lovingly and gently for the pain to ease. Sometimes wounds would heal in time. But tonight, it feels as if Mr. Hanks did a great deal of damage to her hide with the whip. If not cleaned properly, the cuts could become infected. So Susannah asked for Julia to stand on all four of her legs so that she'd be able to lick the middle and lower parts. Then Julia turned around for Susannah to work on the other side for her. Seeing the angry and tearful expression on her face, the jersey cow could tell that Julia was still harboring negative feelings over what happened. She couldn't blame her for feeling that way about Mr. Hanks. But hopefully her convincing words were enough to help Julia not become so hateful._

"_Remember what I told yah," Susannah reminded, still licking a wound. "I don't want yah to go on hatin'. I need yah to remain the way yah are and not let Mr. Hanks' cruelty change that."_

"_I'll try," Julia whispered sadly. "I don't fully understand, but I'll do it."_

_In her heart, Julia admitted to herself that she did care about the other cattle and horses on this ranch, especially Susannah since she was the one who nursed and fed her after the death of her other mother. If what Susannah said was true, then she would do her best not to hate. Yet it almost seemed impossible and difficult to do so. Why must it be so hard for her not to hate? Especially if she was forced to endure a life of misery from a terrible man like Mr. Hanks._

"_There, I think you're all better for now," Susannah finished licking her hide. "Now try to get some sleep tonight. And don't let what happened tonight bother yah."_

"_Alright Susannah," Julia nodded weakly and moved away from the bars to dip her face in a bucket of water. Soaking her head, she shook it off to dry before lying down on the pile of hay to go to sleep. "I only wish it wouldn't stay like this forever. But what can I do when Mr. Hanks says he wants to get rid o' me?"_

_There came a moment of silence in the barn signaling that the other cattle had gone off to sleep, even Susannah. Julia sighed as she stared sideways at the wall in her stall. She had not managed to tell Susannah, her foster mother about what Mr. Hanks said to her in the large woodshed. It wasn't that she had forgotten, but she just couldn't bear to tell her since she herself didn't know. Maybe he was only toying with her after the punishment. The owner spoke as if he had been either planning to sell her off to another ranch or the meat market. Julia breathed anxiously at the thought of being sold to the meat market. If that was what Mr. Hanks had in mind for a bovine like her, then her life would be over._

"_No, it can't be true," Julia shook her head, rejecting that horrible thought. "I won't believe it. If that happens, I might never see Susannah again. And they'll be left behind to endure more of Mr. Hanks' cruelty without any hope o' leavin'. I hate Mr. Hanks." Oh no, Julia forgot that she might have promised not to hate so much. But once again, it was difficult not doing so._

_For tomorrow, Julia secretly planned to spend as much time talking with Susannah in case something dreadful was to happen. Now another question lingered in her mind as she attempted to get some sleep. Was she going to wait here tomorrow and find out what Mr. Hanks planned to do with her? Or was she going to run away as far as possible before that fate would be revealed? In truth, Julia wanted to run away from here, but the thought of leaving Susannah and the others behind in the hands of Mr. Hanks deeply troubled her._

"_If only we could all stand together and escape from this hell hole," she moaned, closing her tearful eyes. "For some reason, I'd much rather take my chances survivin' in the wilderness than stay here and suffer. I'm so confused, I can't decide."_

_It turned out to be a sleepless night for Julia. The poor heifer was as confused and troubled as ever. This so called home of hers was more of a prison than a loving home. Yet in a matter of minutes, she fell into a deep sleep. She dreamt of prancing around in a field of wildflowers in joy, chasing after butterflies and playing with other bovines her age. The fields surrounded the property of a red barn. And that happy farm was her home. Neither Susannah or the other cows and horses she knew could be found anywhere, but the ones she played with were just as friendly and kind enough to accept her for who she was. And that she was greatly thankful for._

_Morning came slowly the next day, casting the light upon the Horse Shoe Ranch. A little more snow had fallen, but rarely as yesterday. Julia was known to be a heavy sleeper and liked to sleep in till noon. Her ears were unable to pick up the sound of footsteps walking and coming closer. She didn't wake up until the lock to her stall opened._

"_She's all yours partner." A harsh voice spoke._

_The last thing Julia realized was that another man entered to take her away._

* * *

**AN**_: _I know updates to my other stories have been scarce, but for now, my computer times can only be during evening hours. I want to finish this story first since it only needs a couple more chapters to go. Don't worry, I haven't given up on my other stories. Sometimes I need a little time to come up with a good chapter; even if it takes me a long while.


	4. Sold

**Chapter 4: Sold **

By mid-afternoon, Pearl arrived home with a large full grown tree the size of a horse. Dragging it behind by rope from Maggie and Mrs. C was no problem since the two were stronger. It proved too heavy for Pearl to pull on her own. So it was a good idea to bring the girls with her, even if Grace was unable to join them. Instead of it being placed inside her house as all other folks did with their Christmas trees, it would be placed outside in the middle area of the farm now that everything was covered in snow. This year, Pearl thought it would be more necessary to bring home a tree that would be more suitable for the front yard so that the family would have a look at it. All the farm animals thought it was a good idea to have the tree outside and dance merrily around it.

"Wow that's a neat tree there!" one of the piglets shouted with joy. "Was it hard to find?"

"Well almost," replied Maggie, staring up at the top. "Had to search from skimpy to full and decide what's best. And we found this. I mean what would a skinny tree be used for; gardening probably."

"This one is good enough and that's all that matters," Mrs. C stated. "It's not the greatest tree in the world, but it's quite decent and not too heavy. By the way, how is Grace?" she turned to one of the piglets.

"Still sick and sleeping," he answered lowly, forgetting that one of the girls couldn't join them. "Lucky Jack told us he was going in to cheer her up with a story."

"A story of his," Maggie glanced over her shoulder to stare at the den. "Well it looks like someone already thought of something quickly. You know how Grace loves stories."

"Except when it comes to those scary campfire tales," Mrs. C added. "Hope that's not what he's telling her." She went over to check on some of the items Pearl brought out of her storage room for the decorating.

Maggie could only shrug her shoulders lightly and joining to see what kind of decorations there would be for the tree. Knowing that neither she nor Mrs. C could go in and see Grace at this moment, it was time to keep the Christmas spirit alive for her and for Pearl to follow the doctor's advice.

Inside the den, Lucky Jack went on with telling the story of Julia to Grace. Grace didn't feel as disappointed as she did this morning when she found out about being sick with a fever. So far, the story was interesting, yet sad to hear. But that was only the beginning of it. Because just when things looked pretty terrible for Julia, she was unaware of the next event about to happen.

* * *

_Waking up to the gates unlocking, Julia saw Mr. Hanks standing outside her stall with another black-haired bearded man in a light brown jacket, brown gloves, blue shirt, gray pants, and black cowboy boots. What that other stranger was doing here was beyond her questioning._

"_So this is the cow that yah mentioned?" the man observed, lifting Julia's head by her chin to check her face. "She don't look that huge to me. How old is she?"_

"_She's two years old," replied Mr. Hanks. "At birth, her mother died shortly, so I had to place her with another heifer for feedin' and nursin'. But if yah take her, she could be worth a lot on your ranch."_

"_Hmm," the man mumbled thoughtfully as he observed Julia more. "A purty face, strong legs, and a rough hide." He roughly rubbed against Julia's back, not paying attention to her unpleasant reaction or the scars underneath._

_Mr. Hanks just stood outside Julia's stall to give the man some time to observe her and decide if he really wanted her. For a while, Mr. Hanks had been working on ways to get rid of one particular troublemaking bovine that he believed had been costing him money on his ranch to deal with any longer. And he recently promised this man that if he was ever looking for an animal that can pull a load, then he'd be more than happy to work out a deal in selling one of his own. Reluctantly, the man looked at Mr. Hanks with a nod._

"_I'll be takin' her with me," he replied, still kneeling on his right knee. "If I feed her enough grain, she'll grow big and strong to pull the wheels on my farm. That's what cattle are good for."_

"_They sure are," Mr. Hanks agreed. "Just be careful, she's a rather feisty gal when handled."_

"_That don't bother me. I got my own ways o' dealin' with that kind o' behavior. If she starts actin' up, I'll know what to do." His tone sounded cold._

_Mr. Hanks proudly handed him a lasso in which the man tied around Julia's neck and attempted to drag her out of the stall. In anger and fear of a stranger laying hands on her, Julia reared her head back resisting the pull. She hated the idea of an unknown man visiting the ranch, observing every cow and horse, and taking one of them away to never be seen again. And she desperately did not want to be one of them. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that this is what Mr. Hanks had in mind all along. He was planning to sell her to this man._

"_WHOA, she is feisty!" the man hollered, holding on to her rope in a tight grip, his feet dragging on the ground. _

"_Hang on a sec partner!" Mr. Hanks called, entering her stall to give her a few smacks on the lower back with a riding crop he fetched off a wall. "Knock it off or I'll use the halter on yah."_

_Her original owner's shouting caused Julia to stop resisting and sadly follow who was soon to be her new owner out of the stall. It felt useless fighting back when the humans always got their way in the end. Glancing over her shoulder back at the other cows, Julia saw the surprised expressions on their faces when they saw her being led away by a stranger. But none of them were as surprised, shocked or devastated as much as Susannah. When one cow informed her of the situation, she poked her head outside her stall and watched her foster child being taken from her._

"_Julia!" she cried out. "Where're yah goin'?" She did not remember Julia saying something about this last night when she was trying to comfort her. Why didn't she? "Julia!"_

"_Goodbye Susannah!" Julia bellowed with sadness gleaming in her eyes. If only Mr. Hanks and this other man allowed her to touch Susannah one last time before departing. But that would never happen. She could already see that her foster mother's heart was breaking as she watched her disappear out of the barn and into the snow covered ground outside. As the end of her rope was being tied in the back of the man's wagon, another negative feeling filled her head. What if she really had gone too far with being stubborn enough with Mr. Hanks to deserve this? The worst was probably yet to come for her._

_Overhearing Mr. Hanks get paid from the man he referred to as Mr. Finch, her new owner thanked him for showing and giving information of his new working animal before climbing back up in front of the Conestoga wagon. By the sound of this man's voice, she guessed that Mr. Finch had no compassion and was only interested in finding an animal to do all the dirty work for him._

"_And if she ain't exactly what I'm lookin' for, I want my money back," Mr. Finch spoke before snapping the reins._

"_Suite yourself," Mr. Hanks shrugged his shoulders. Although he was not comfortable with that option, he understood that a deal was a deal. He and Mr. Finch has been business partners for many years and there was no arguing against what was to be done when it comes to selling livestock. "A deals a deal."_

_And with that, Mr. Finch snapped the reins being pulled by two brown horses. If she wanted to, Julia would have refused to budge. But the force of the wagon pulling her by the rope was too strong to resist and she had no choice but to go with this strange man. Her hooves clacked on the hard ground as the wagon turned down the trail leading out to the open road. Turning her head back, Julia stared at the Horse Shoe Ranch with tearful eyes making her sight a bit blurry. Being born only two years in confinement, there other things in this world that she still did not know about. The only relief she felt was being glad to be free of Mr. Hanks' brutality, but she already missed Susannah and the rest of the herd terribly. Never again would she feel her comfort or soft kind words whenever she was feeling scared. Something inside told Julia to be strong, but given what was happening, that was easier said than done. And even if she had come up with a plan to help everyone earlier, it was too late._

"_Oh Susannah, I wanna be brave," she whispered with her head low. "But everything that's happenin' is so…so frightenin' for me."_

_The wagon had now reached thirty miles on the road from the Horse Shoe Ranch. And Julia gazed at her surroundings as the wagon made a right turn on a different path. Her snout caught the wonderful scents coming from the woods and rushing river on the far left. The feel of a river made her mouth salivate from thirst. Wherever this wagon was taking her, Julia wished it would reach there already. For some reason, she felt silly for thinking that. Her unknown destination might as well be the cattle market or slaughterhouse. Then again, she just remembered that Mr. Finch mentioned that he wanted a cow to work on his farm. So that meant her destination was neither of the two places she thought of. It was another ranch._

"_So this is what it's like travelin' out in the snow," Julia murmured, staring at a few trees and hills covered in heaps of snow. "If I were not attached to this mangy wagon, I'd love to do some explorin' beyond those hills."_

_What she didn't know was that sometimes a person would become lost in the woods easily if a blizzard suddenly hit. She was feeling much too adventurous about exploring to think of that. Being trapped in confinement made her feel like a prisoner. The only time she saw the daylight was while being dragged from her stall to the woodshed for a beating. That memory might as well haunt her for the rest of her days. But out in the wilderness, other animals roamed free. And a part of Julia strongly desired to join the rest of them._

_As an hour passed, Julia decided to hum a few songs that Susannah used to sing to her as a young calf. Doing so calmed her nerves, but did little to clear the hurtful memories from her troubled mind. Still Julia sang on, confident that it did help out, if not entirely. The wagon made turns on the road every few minutes leaving Julia confused with not remembering which path she had been walking on. The landscapes in this area were filled with more snow covered trees with branches hovering above log houses she had not seen before. Overhead Julia glimpsed at a few more log houses surrounded by fences and an even larger house straight where the wagon seemed to be heading without a turn._

"_Up ahead is your new home!" Mr. Finch finally announced up front, pointing to the same house Julia gazed at out of curiosity. "We'll be there shortly. Then by tomorrow, your work in the fields begins."_

_Julia sighed nervously, unsure of what to think about her new owner. For the first few hours since she had been sold, his tone of voice felt unfriendly and arrogant. Having never done any work on the Horse Shoe Ranch, she had often heard sad stories of overworked donkeys, horses, and oxen pass out from dehydration because of some farmers not allowing them rest. Was she about to become one of them next? Being trapped in confinement was one thing, but being forced to work long hours without rest seemed much worse for her._

"_If he wants me to work, then he better know how to feed n' groom me," Julia said grumpily. "Otherwise I won't be able to move a muscle without fuel."_

"_Aw quit you're complainin' back there!" Mr. Finch yelled over his shoulder. Although he couldn't understand what she was saying to herself, her talking was nothing more than a few moos irritating him. "It ain't my fault you're slower than the wagon; might as well get used to it. Because that's gonna be part o' your work out in the fields."_

_Within minutes, the wagon arrived up in front of the gates of an enormous fence surrounding the farm. In the middle of this property, a large house made entirely of carpenter wood stood with a red brick chimney sticking out the roof. Julia figured that it must be where Mr. Finch slept and cooked inside when he wasn't working. Behind the far back of the house appeared to be another house that she guessed must be the barn._

"_That is where you'll be stayin' from now on heifer," Mr. Finch declared, pulling the wagon up to a stop in front of his house. Jumping off the wagon, he continued. "It's called the bank barn. Not exactly lap o' luxury type, but you'll get used to it like all the other critters inside. Come along now."_

_Untying her rope behind the wagon, Mr. Finch led his new cow over to the barn, passing his house. Ahead the gates to the barn were open revealing another man shoveling some hay out of a stall with a pitchfork. He had sandy hair, black pants, and a dark brown jacket covering him._

"_Is that the new cow Mr. Hanks sold yah?" he asked, shoveling away._

"_Sure is Mark," answered Mr. Finch. "There were not much oxen to find so she'll have to do for now."_

_Leading her inside the barn, three of the stalls held three sheep, one horse, and two cows. All Julia could do was stare, not knowing whether to say hello or not unless the animals turned out to be unfriendly toward her. Walking past the stalls, Mr. Finch tugged on her rope when she slowed down. Julia saw more horses and cows inside the stalls. Some were black, brown, gold, and white. Two cows gave her friendly hellos while the horses only snorted and turned away. At the end, Mr. Finch shoved Julia into her new stall and warned her not to go anywhere or else. After he left the stables, Julia turned to try and make friends with the two cows who greeted her._


	5. The Stables

**Chapter 5: The Stables**

When the skies turned dark that evening, all the animals went to sleep after a day of decorating the tree. Even with Grace ill, it turned out to be a fun day, but would've been more fun if she saw the tree herself. Pearl who was determined to follow doctor's orders gave Grace two spoonfuls of the remedy for the second time before she went inside her house to sleep. And she had to give one spoonful to Maggie and Mrs. C to prevent the illness from getting to them. When Mrs. C asked Grace how she felt, Grace explained that Lucky Jack found a way in to cheer her up with a story similar to the one she told the girls last month. Even with a little drama added into it, Grace had been informed by Jack that the story did not end unhappily. The girls were quite pleased, feeling that perhaps Grace was coming to terms with the fact that everyone has hard times in their life. She still felt a little disappointed about not being able to go with them to find a tree, but had to accept that she couldn't come out until her fever was gone.

Dr. Smith arrived the next day to check on Grace and see any progress within her. So far, the effects were the same as yesterday. The medicine he had given was known to take overnight to work if taken right. Her temperature had dropped to one hundred and one, meaning it could take another two or three days to drop completely. So Grace had to stay inside again without any choice. Now that the tree had been brought home, Pearl was going to start feeding the animals and decorating the inside and outside of her house. While the two girls were outside with the piglets, the doors to the den were left open a bit so that Grace could have a bit of fresh air. Dr. Smith told the woman not to expose her to too much cold wind or else her fever will go back up. The weather was neither too windy nor snowy. Nothing but tiny snowflakes fell slowly from the grey clouds.

For the rest of the afternoon, Lucky Jack continued to tell Grace the rest of the story from where he left off.

* * *

_Julia had been placed inside the stall in between the stalls of a Holstein cow on her right and a Hereford on her left. Unsure of what to think of them, Julia cowered in hopes that they would not notice her fearful expression. They already noticed though. Julia was now starting to hate being alone in a barn with strange new faces staring down at her. _

"_How do yah do newcomer?" the Holstein cow greeted Julia as friendly as she could be. "I'm Flower, but folks round this place call me Flow for short."_

"_Uh…howdy," Julia stuttered nervously._

"_And that's Cassidy there," Flower used her head to point over to where the Hereford cow stood on the other side._

"_Hi honey," Cassidy said politely, despite seeing the fear behind Julia's eyes. "It's alright now, don't be shy. Not all of us are unfriendly as yah might think. In fact, some of us were not born here. I know I was not."_

_The kind words of Cassidy helped Julia out of her cowering position as she slowly moved toward to where the Hereford was. It was as if Cassidy could sense a vibration in her that helped to reveal her distrustful nature of strangers. But whatever it was, Julia felt she might as well trust these new faces next to her; even now that she is the newcomer of this ranch. Susannah once taught her that if she should ever be sold to another rancher, then she should introduce herself politely when an animal greets you. It was part of making the best of a frightening situation._

"_Yah don't talk much do yah honey," Flower said with a concerned look. "Why's that?"_

"_Probably cause she's embarrassed by the odor of her ol' pig pen," a copper colored stallion sneered. He had four white socks on his legs and a white star on his forehead. "I was startin' to wonder why it smelled so foul in here. It stinks o' outsiders." The other chestnut horse Crossfire laughed at this._

_Julia winced at this horse's rude remark. It didn't take too long for her to realize that he was talking about her. The cows were kind to her so far, but now she wasn't so sure what to make of the horses._

"_Shove it Sparks!" Cassidy retorted, defending Julia. "She's new here so just try showin' a little respect for her. So what if she might smell a little unusual. Did yah expect the scent o' wildflowers?"_

_To her pleasure, Julia was relieved of someone defending her, even if she only knew Cassidy and Flower for the first couple of minutes. Maybe she can ask them to be her friends for as long as they can. It was worth it._

"_She don't belong here," snorted Sparks. "Pullin' the plow is a horse's job. Look at the legs on that bovine. I bet she can't even lift a heavy load on her back. So why does Mr. Finch bother with buyin' her for the job?"_

"_Although it's her first day on the ranch, I'm positive she'll learn the ways o' workin' as we all have," Flower said in Julia's defense. "Maybe us bovine ain't as fast as you boys, but we're stronger at pullin' that plow." She turned and whispered to Julia. "Ignore those ruffians. They're always judgmental when it comes to newcomers takin' parts o' their jobs. At least that's what they think usually."_

_Julia could only nod in response. Remembering the advice Susannah gave to her last night, rather than hate the horses, she was going to ignore them and maybe show that she can do any kind of work that Mr. Finch wants her to. Then perhaps she won't be mocked at so often once they realize how good a worker she is._

"_By the way honey, what's your name?" Cassidy asked, forgetting about that question when introducing themselves._

"_It's…its Julia," she answered. "And I come from the Horse Shoe Ranch."_

_The animals stared at her in bewilderment when she said the name of the ranch. They gasped as if she had sores growing on her face._

"_I mean…that's where Mr. Finch bought me," she maintained. "Mr. Hanks runs the ranch. It's full o' horses and cows that have lived there longer than I have, but…"_

"_The Horse Shoe Ranch?" Sparks said hastily. "That's where the old loon punishes livestock that don't obey commands. I heard bout it from other horses that were raised on that ranch. What'd yah do over there, break your master's leg?"_

"_What kind of question is that to ask me?" Julia stared over at Sparks, close to feeling fury within._

"_Just answer the question," Sparks inquired. "Were yah sold off cause your master couldn't afford to keep yah, or were yah too weak to work any longer?"_

"_None o' the above," Julia answered angrily. "And it's none o' your business to ask. Mr. Hanks just don't wanna keep me no more; business reasons."_

"_Alright break it up ya'll!" Flower demanded, hoping to prevent a huge fight. "Where this young gal came from don't matter with me. Just cause she was raised in an unhappy home don't mean she's bad herself. If she don't wanna talk bout it, let her be."_

_Reluctantly, the horses snorted and turned away, not bothering with Julia any longer. Instead of ridiculing her any further for the rest of the day, the two would chat amongst themselves about other things that the two cows don't pay attention to. It was now safe for the girls to talk with Julia._

"_Don't worry honey," Flower whispered with encouragement. "Those boys won't bother yah no more for now."_

"_Thanks Flower and Cassidy," Julia replied in a weak tone, nearly a whisper. "I know we just met, but I'm startin' to like havin' yah around."_

"_Do yah miss someone?" Cassidy asked, seeing through the sadness behind Julia's eyes and her weak voice. "My Ma always taught that if somethin' is botherin' me, I'd talk it over with her. Don't yah wanna tell us?"_

"_Cassidy," Flower said firmly. "If she don't wanna talk bout somethin', then we shouldn't have to force her."_

"_No it's alright Flower," Julia assured bravely. "If I'm gonna be livin' here from now on, I might as well tell ya'll bout myself. Personally I don't like talkin' bout my problems to anybody but my Ma. But how should I begin?"_

_The animals in the stables listened as Julia began to tell them her story of the awful ranch she grew up on and lived there for two years under the tyranny of a cruel rancher the animals called Mr. Hanks. Although she often heard about his past being a sad one to tell, the pain of missing someone dearly was no reason for him to take it out on the livestock. The tragedy happened ten years before he changed and Julia never knew the wife and infant because of her being born two years ago. It tugged at her heartstrings to explain that she never knew her real mother all because she died giving birth. So Susannah had been left to foster and care for her like a real daughter. Then it pained her to speak of how Mr. Hanks punished some of the livestock for stupid things or for no reason. But he took most of his wrath and brutality on her because she was believed to be the most troublesome and rebellious on the ranch. And when Julia had been punished for almost swallowing up his lost money, it was the last straw for her as Mr. Hanks decided to sell her here to Mr. Finch. Probably so he wouldn't have to deal with her rebellion anymore. Rather than miss living the cruel life behind those doors, Julia missed Susannah the most as she mentioned where her foster mother called out for her while she was being taken away. When the story ended, Julia fell silent, fighting to keep herself from shedding tears in front of them. Her lower lip trembled._

"_Yah know honey," Cassidy began, noticing her reaction. "Why don'tcha come her for a second." She waited as Julia sat up on all fours and walked over to sit against the wall closed to her. "As much as some of us wish to go back and fix things, it ain't possible."_

"_It ain't?" Julia asked, confused._

"_No it ain't," Cassidy shook her head, not feeling proud of what she was about to say, but must. "Yah see not everyone grows up with a Ma or Pa. Some are born as orphans and never get a chance to know their parents. The same goes for human children. Those without parents go to live at an orphanage until a couple comes to adopt a child; can't say the same for us bovines. All I know is that an orphan calf will sometimes be placed with another cow for motherin'. And another sad thing is some mothers will reject their calves and not let'em feed from her. So either the farmer restrains the mother while the calf feeds or he'll have to drink milk from a bottle. I know how yah feel bout not ever knowin' your real Ma. I never knew my Ma either. She died shortly after I was born."_

_Julia looked up at Cassidy with disbelief. The Hereford beside her also lost a mother at a much younger age and grew up never knowing her._

"_That sounds an awful lot like me," Julia said, her voice low. "Were yah fostered?"_

"_For a while honey pie," Cassidy replied. "I was taken care o' by Buttercup until I grew to be a year old. And after she could no longer give milk, the master sold her off. For a long time, it hurt to never see her again, but with all other friends I made in the barn, it helped me to overcome my loss. And it made me realize that there are some things I just can't change in the past." She rubbed her head smoothly against Julia's withers. "Times bring changes. And we all know that things don't stay the same forever. It might sound scary, but it's the way o' life."_

"_And I used to live on another ranch until my master sold me to this here barn two years ago," Flower suddenly cut in. "Right now I'm twelve summers old."_

_That was when Julia grunted and flinched when she suddenly felt a pain in between her withers where Cassidy rubbed._

"_What's wrong honey?" she asked timidly._

"_My back hurts terribly Cassidy," Julia moaned, her eyes shut tight._

_Cassidy stared down in shock at Julia's back and saw the cuts spread all over her from top to bottom. Parts of her coat were stained with dry blood the night before._

"_Flower, she's got scars on her back!" Cassidy gasped. "And one of thems bleedin'."_

"_Are yah sure," asked Flower in astonishment. "If she's got scars, then that must be where her other owner had whipped her. Can yah clean'em?"_

_Hearing this got the other two horses' attention as they looked to where Cassidy was licking the area where Julia's cut had been hurting, hoping to clean it so it wouldn't become infected. Sparks stared in both curiosity and annoyance. He was still displeased with the fact that an outsider cow from an awful ranch was here to take his job in pulling the plow. Not only did he think of her like that, but for some reason, he was raised to believe that outsiders with a bad history were bound to bring any kind of bad luck on the ranch. And it seems the two girls being nice to her were too stupid to think of that._

"_Wait I almost forgot to ask you bout Mr. Finch," Julia spoke as Cassidy still licked her wound. It reminded her of Susannah tending to them. "What's he like and what do ya'll think o' him? I mean he sure don't sound so friendly, even to me."_

_Hearing Cassidy sigh, Julia wondered if it meant bad news for her to hear. But she was still curious to know now that this is her new home._

"_Well Julia dear, while Mr. Finch feeds us and has someone clean our stalls," Cassidy began, feeling that she must be honest with the newcomer. "He can often be a rather tough demandin' rancher when it comes to one of us pullin' the plow out in the field. Yah see every time a cow or horse don't move fast enough with carryin' out his work, he shouts impatiently and sometimes will bring down a riding crop or stick on our backs to make us move faster. Unlike what your owner has done to hurt yah, Mr. Finch will only shout and be angry if yah slow down in the middle or don't listen. So I strongly suggest that while you're workin', never drag yourself, never complain, and always obey the master's commands. That's what we all learn to do to avoid trouble."_

_Before Julia could ask for more details, the doors to the stables flew open to reveal Mr. Finch enter carrying two silver pails in his hands. Opening the gate to Julia's stall, he walked in and placed them in front of her before walking back out. A pail of grain and water stood there in which Julia decided to eat from. She was feeling hungry._


	6. Pulling the Plow

**Chapter 6: Pulling the Plow**

Grace listened in on the words where Lucky Jack narrated that not everyone grows up happily in their lives with loving natural parents. Some are born as orphans, some are forced to live a cruel household, and some are sadly rejected. And it might have opened her eyes to realize that perhaps she was not the only orphan calf to have gone through living with a cruel owner. Not all humans were like Lewis, but there are men out in the west who are just as bad as him; even worse. Alameda Slim was no exception. But to keep from Lucky Jack knowing about her hard life, she asked a question.

"Jack, is it true that not all folks grow up in a happy household?"

"That is true missy," Lucky Jack replied, nodding his head. "Stories ain't just told to children for entertainment purposes, but most o' them are here to teach us folk's bout moral values and good life lessons. So that hopefully we don't wind up makin' the same mistake over and over. As Cassidy mentioned to Julia in the story, some young ones out there have no families, no homes, are forced to live in a cruel home or orphanage, and maybe even left to fend for themselves on the streets."

"How terrible," Grace said in a raw tone, feeling pity hearing this sad fact.

"Sad but true I'm afraid," Lucky Jack agreed. "Even though Mr. Hanks was distraught over the death o' his wife and child, he had no right takin' it out on the animals. If he were any smarter, he'd share his pain with friends if he let'em help. But instead he made the wrong choices."

Grace nodded at his comment. It was hard to believe that tragedy would change a man's personality only if they allow grief and self pity to take over instead of sharing that pain with others. Had she almost made the wrong choice when she fell into a depression?

"I'm only tellin' yah what I know. There're other sad facts to learn bout in life, but that'll have to wait another time. Now where was I? Aha, as Julia was learning to get used to livin' at her new home, she was bout to learn the hard fact o' bein' a workin' animal."

* * *

_Mr. Finch arrived inside the stables to give Julia and the rest of the animals' food and water. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. However, Julia was feeling much too hungry to care about his entrance and ate as much grain as she could. But to her surprise, the grain wasn't that good, yet it might as well be the only food she would be given for today. And it was better than being starved as punishment. There was that one thought from what Cassidy said recently that still questioned her mind. If what she said was true, then Julia better learn to watch herself and please her new master as best as she can. That was the life of a horse or cow. Or at least that's how Julia felt._

"_By the way Cassidy," Julia said while her mouth was full of grain. "I'm curious to know. What else does Mr. Finch expect from all of us?"_

"_Well…I'm not gonna lie to yah honey," Cassidy replied, swallowing a mouthful. "A lot of us ain't too fond o' him to be exact. Sure he feeds us and cleans our stalls. But at all times, he can be a hard headed impatient man."_

"_You told me that already, remember?" Julia reminded._

"_I know I did. I was just sayin' it as a cautious reminder to yah," Cassidy admitted. "If yah don't want Mr. Finch to lose his temper or hit yah, do as he commands. Whenever you're out plowin' the field, don't slow down and don't stop unless he says so. And since it is winter, we can't go outside to look for grass to eat. So we always have to stay indoors to keep warm from the freezin' wind. And the snow covers the feeding grounds moments after it falls from the heavens." Cassidy gestured her head up high to the ceiling of the barn as if she were staring at the sky._

"_So in order to make ourselves useful," Flower advised to Julia, peering over her stall. "One must work to make a livin'. For humans, one must obtain food by workin' at a descent job to earn enough money to keep bread on the table. Harvesting crops, growin' and gatherin' fruit and veggies out in the fields is what farmers do each season. Many fine foods can be cooked from apples, pumpkins and anything the rancher could think of."_

_The small story of farm life brought a bit of interest for Julia to listen to as she begged Flower and Cassidy to tell her more._

"_To make a long story on farm life short sweetie," Flower maintained. "It is the duty of all ranchers and housewives to work; and if they don't, so much the worst for them if they should suffer from hunger. The same can be said for us. I mean we don't work to earn money like the humans do, but it is to give our masters a helping hand. And if we're good enough for the job, he'll reward us with as much food as he can give."_

"_And if yah don't want yourself stored high in the smoke house, work harder!" Sparks called out with a smirk on his face, chuckling._

"_Don't yah ever shut up Sparks?" Flower retorted, frowning at him. "Julia here didn't ask your opinion. If she wants it, she'll ask."_

"_What's the smoke house Flower?" Julia asked, despite feeling a bit of annoyance toward Sparks' rudeness. It sounded a bit frightening to her._

"_Never mind that Julia," Flower said, trying not to allow the newcomer to feel panicked. "And don't mind what Sparks mentioned. He'll say whatever he can to look for the wrong kind of attention."_

"_Yeah, don't worry bout that anymore tonight," added Cassidy with encouragement. "That ain't for any o' us cattle n' horses to get worked up bout. Besides night is fallin', we should get some rest."_

_Julia looked out a small window where she saw the skies had already grown dark through a small cracked window._

"_Maybe you're right Cassidy," Julia yawned, her eyelids closing halfway. "I can't even remember how long I've been in this barn chattin' away with everyone."_

_The man known as Mark entered the stables carrying a wheelbarrow of straw to place inside each of the animals' stalls for warmth. When it was empty, Mark turned around and closed the doors. His job was to make sure the animals were given proper bedding and to clean out the stalls whenever necessary. To Julia's pleasure, she laid her entire body all over the warm hay and already fell asleep. She decided to put her troubled mind to rest and not worry about Mr. Finch tonight. And if she wanted to make herself useful on this ranch, then she'd have to work and obey. The idea of working out in the field was new and strange to her. Who knows? Perhaps she can handle it if she tried. And Julia knows she'll never know what to think of it until her first day comes tomorrow. Easy or hard, Julia was determined to try it as hard as she can. She also remembered the advice Susannah gave about doing everything you can to please your new master in case you're ever sold off. And whatever happens, never rebel or else you'll suffer the consequences._

_The next morning, Mr. Finch flew the barn doors wide open to come for Julia. There on the straw, she laid there still fast asleep while the other animals were already awake. He entered her stall carrying a bucket of sweet grain for breakfast and another bucket of water to fill her empty trough. It annoyed him to see her sleeping, so he picked up a small shovel from the floor and banged it repeatedly on the silver bucket close to her face. Eventually Julia woke up with a start standing on her two front legs, her heart beating faster at the sudden wake up call._

"_Up with yah lazy heifer!" Mr. Finch ordered. "Can't sleep in all day when there's a job for yah to do. Here, eat your breakfast. I'll be right back." He went back outside leaving the doors open._

_Julia peered into the bucket and started eating up the grain. It actually tasted sweeter than the food she was given yesterday. She enjoyed every taste in her mouth, despite the odd feeling she experienced from Mr. Finch's strange behavior. Even if she wasn't supposed to sleep in past breakfast, he could have given her a more appropriate way to awaken her gently. The clanking from the pail startled her. But at least the food was terrific._

_By the time Mr. Finch arrived back in with a rope in hand, Julia had finished eating. Tying the rope around her neck, he led her out of the stall and out into the cold weather. All the animals in the stables were confused as to wonder why Mr. Finch would have her working on a cold day like this sooner than expected. Nobody ever heard of an oxen or horse working on a winter day._

"_I know its winter," murmured Mr. Finch, walking Julia out in front of the house where the fields had been covered in an inch of snow. "But this is just to see if you're worthy o' bein' my new workin' animal. It'll be like a warm up. So don't sweat." Then he glanced over his shoulder giving Julia a sneer. "But if yah refuse to work, I may have to send yah back to Mr. Hanks. Or better yet, I'll have to beat it into yah." In his other hand, he shook a riding crop in front of her face violently._

_Julia shook at his reaction, but kept on walking. That riding crop he held sure appeared to seem rather hurtful or powerful. Now Julia felt more determined to be as helpful and pleasing to Mr. Finch so that hopefully he wouldn't hit her with that thing. And she didn't want to go back to living on the Horse Shoe Ranch enduring Mr. Hanks' cruelty till the end of her days. Yet thinking of Susannah back there was breaking her heart in two. Who knows how she might have been handling with her departure._

"_Come along," Mr. Finch gave a light tug on her rope to move her closer to him. He led her past a strange tiny wooden house with the door opened a little. Julia thought she noticed something hanging in there, but did not have time to see what it was. If she slowed down right now, Mr. Finch would yell at her. "Alright now stand over here." _

_By now, Mr. Finch walked her over to where an odd steel device she had never seen before stood still in the snow covered fields with two wheels holding it up and a long wooden stick with two leather materials attached from there to the front of the steel device. All Julia could do was stare at it in a puzzled way. She reckoned that this must be the plow that Mr. Finch and the other animals mentioned. The rancher had Julia stand in front of the plow as he picked up the wooden stick and placed it across her neck and shoulders. Attaching it securely, he inspected the leather materials to make sure they were not loosened up. Before getting her started, Mr. Finch took a few steps back to have a look at Julia. Hands on his hips, he smiled pleasantly thinking that this device would definitely do her some good on his farm. His smile made Julia a bit nervous._

"_There you're all set," he said, removing the rope around her neck. "Now follow me this way." Then the plowing began._

_Julia followed Mr. Finch obediently assuming that if she just did as he ordered, he would take this heavy wooden device off her neck. The object around her neck and shoulders was a yoke worn around all working animals. The fields appeared to be larger than she thought. How was one simple bovine like her to do all this in a hurry? Didn't Mr. Finch have other working animals for the job?_

"_Good job on that row, now follow me this way," he said, signaling her with his hand. Eagerly, Julia kept going pulling as hard as she can with the plow on the next row. The yoke around her was heavy and hurting a bit, but Julia refused to stop or slow down. So far she had been doing well with creating four rows with the plow behind her. And Mr. Finch had not lost his temper with her; at least, not yet._

_After a few more minutes of plowing eight rows, the rancher allowed Julia to stop and rest for fifteen minutes to catch her breath. Julia felt relieved and proud to know that her new master hadn't yelled or hit her with that riding crop. She figured that her job with the plow had been pleasing to him enough to not allow him to lose his patience. Her mouth was feeling dry, thirsting for a drink of water. But the heavy yoke was still hanging above her shoulders, preventing movement to go anywhere at this moment. Staring at the field around her, Julia sighed lightly to think that this is the responsibility of a working animal; plowing fields all day long. Her job was far from done. Because she had been bought and sold, Julia figured that this was Mr. Finch's intention to teach her how to get used to plowing the field. So she had to please him by obeying._

"_Times up girl, back to work!" Mr. Finch ordered, smacking the riding crop against the side of his leg. "If yah do a good job, I'll reward yah with all the hay n' oats yah can possibly eat."_

_At those words of the promise of treats, Julia stood up and followed Mr. Finch once more. The plowing lesson lasted for another hour. Julia walked behind huffing and puffing due to the weight of the yoke. To her, this job felt a little boring and tiring. Yet nevertheless, she would do this without slowing or complaining. Unless she wanted to hear Sparks and some of the other horses laughing at her laziness. There was no way she would allow that to happen while living on this farm. Pulling with all her might, sweat started to leak off her face._

"_Pullin' this plow is tougher than I thought it'd be," Julia thought to herself. "But I mustn't slow down or else Mr. Finch might send me back to Mr. Hanks." She pulled more, grunting._

_Just when Julia had been doing fine with plowing eight more rows on the field, she was beginning to tire in the middle of plowing the twenty-first row. It was only half way done and she was slowing down to a stop, catching her breath. Mr. Finch glanced back and noticed she wasn't moving. Displeased by this, he stomped toward her with his riding crop held firmly._

"_Hey lazy heifer, move that plow!" he demanded, gesturing to the rest of the unfinished row._

_Julia flinched and shut her eyes tight as he shouted in her ear, loud enough to ring her eardrum. When she didn't move, Mr. Finch impatiently thrashed her on the withers four times to get her moving again. Feeling the pain of the riding crop, Julia continued to pull the plow with Mr. Finch standing by to make sure she wouldn't slow down._


	7. A Gift of Hope

**Chapter 7: A Gift of Hope**

That evening, Pearl sat beside Grace who was lying on her side sleeping, too weak and tired to move. She was still burning with fever and shivering with chills, despite having the warmth of the wool blanket on top. Pearl wiped her forehead with a cool cloth dipped in lavender scent. The farm woman patted Grace gently when coughs shook her frail body.

"There now girl, take it easy," Pearl said gently, still patting. "Yah must try to relax."

It pained her to see Grace suffering in this sort of condition. The doctor would arrive again tomorrow to check on her once more. His last instructions she remembered was that someone like her had to be with Grace all the time, both day and night. Every half hour, Pearl would check up on Grace to see how she was doing by taking her temperature. Lucky Jack hid himself in the bundle of hay so that she wouldn't notice his presence. The interruptions didn't bother him in the least, understanding the importance of helping Grace to heal from the illness. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. But the feelings Pearl and the other animals felt were not exactly filled with holiday cheer.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family including Maggie and Mrs. C stood outside peeking in through the small opening of the doors. All their expressions were sorrowful and filled with worry over Grace's sickness. Hardly any one of them ever got sick and were now wondering what would happen if the illness were to only become worse for Grace. She had to get better soon. It wouldn't be Christmas without her.

"Would ya'll quit mopin' round for once," Maggie suddenly spoke firmly, seeing the looks on their faces. "She's gonna get better. Just wait and see." But deep inside, she was just as worried for Grace as the rest of the family. "All is not lost for her, so why don't we try to lighten up."

"But it's so horrible to see her like this," Ollie stated, still gazing pitifully at the frozen form of Grace being cared for by Pearl.

"Easy for you to say," Jeb agreed. Despite being the grumpy and sarcastic member of the bunch, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for Grace. "She can barely move a muscle." In his mind, he wondered how life might seem on this farm without Grace singing off-key or doing her best to settle a disagreement between him and the piglets. "Do yah think she might…?"

"NO SHE'S NOT!"

All turned attention to Mrs. Calloway whose expression was mixed with anger and determination. She for one would never believe that Grace might not ever recover from this illness and won't have anyone in the family thinking unpleasant thoughts of the future.

"Her illness can be treated and cured. But all it takes is time for it to fade," she said, struggling to keep her tone as hopeful and determined as possible. But it was disappointment that overtook her to find that the family may be giving up hope that Grace would never get better. Her sharp, stern voice made them listen up. "I for one am not giving up on Grace, so don't you go giving up on her either. She needs us to be strong for her right now. Things may look bad at this moment, but that doesn't mean she'll never make it. All we can do is hope…hope that she will recover in time!"

That was when the doors to the den threw open revealing Pearl.

"Come on in girls, it's time to hit the hay," she shooed the two girls inside. "And wait there while I go get the medicine." Rushing inside her house, all the other animals went back to their pens and coops to go to sleep.

Mrs. C stepped forward to where Grace lay sleeping still. Her body didn't move an inch, but she noticed that the sweet heifer was still breathing; or at least struggling to breath through her opened mouth. It still proved a bit difficult for her to breath out of her stuffy nose. Sitting next to her, Mrs. C thought it necessary to whisper a few words to Grace, whether she was listening or not. For some reason it might feel good to let it out.

"Not feeling too well dear?" Mrs. C sighed softly, listening to her faint breath. "I understand. Just thought I let you know that everything is prepared for this season. We all know you would've loved to see the tree."

Of course her response was nothing but silence, her soft breathing the only sound present. Maggie on the other hand was having a hard time going to sleep, secretly watching Mrs. C talk with Grace to speak words of comfort. By the sound of her tone, Maggie felt that she was convincing herself that Grace was only resting and not in danger of being lost. Whenever Mrs. C turned in her direction, Maggie closed her eyes and pretended that she had already drifted off to sleep. As much as she wanted to be close to Grace herself, Maggie couldn't bear the thought of staring down at their ill friend sleeping in a troubled, restless slumber. This was almost too much to handle. Sometimes she would tell a few jokes to the family to calm them and herself from the anxiety over Grace's sickness. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep their hopes alive. The Christmas season was all about hope.

"Listen closely now," Mrs. C whispered to the sleeping Grace. "I know I may have sounded a bit strict and harsh when I found you were sick. But the reason why I act strict sometimes is because I care about you; and Maggie too of course. Rules such as drying yourself off when coming in are made for a reason. They're for our protection against this." She was referring to the cold and flu. "I was worried your sickness might've been a symptom beyond the doctor's help." Swallowing a lump in her throat, she continued. "I hear Jack's story has been thrilling enough for you. That's good to hear. We all know how much you like to hear stories about Christmas."

Pearl came back in with the medicine for Grace. In one hand she held the bottle and in the other were two silver spoons.

"Stand aside Mrs. C," Pearl instructed, stepping forward to Grace. "I have to give Grace the medicine now."

Mrs. C moved out of her way, knowing that it was time for her to go back to her own sleeping spot. From there, she watched Pearl give Grace two spoonfuls of the medicine without any trouble. Then afterward, she used the other clean spoon to give her and Maggie one dose.

"Cheer up you two," Pearl said softly to the girls, trying to smile. "She'll be alright, I promise. She just needs her rest." Then she left the den.

As Mrs. C fell asleep, Maggie stared over at her with the left eye open feeling rather touched by the warmth of her words to Grace. She couldn't help but give a proud smile for her, finding out that Mrs. Calloway did have a soft side after all, even if she barely shows it often. Then again, nobody is perfect. Everyone has their flaws in life. At their first meeting, they didn't even get along that well. But it was only by working together and putting aside their differences that helped to save the farm.

_I should be teasing you Mrs. C_. Maggie thought, closing her left eye. _But I'm actually proud of you tonight. Heck, and what a fool I was to think that you didn't have a softer side. I knew there had to be more to you than I thought_. Then with that, she fell asleep.

* * *

_Next morning_

The next morning came the dawn of Christmas Eve. All the animals woke up early sniffing the scent of falling snow in the air. But rather than feel cheery, it felt dismal inside for each and every one of them. It was as if the entire family had walked out of the land of happiness and into a land of gloom and shadows where sorrow never ends. It was becoming more difficult to keep on hoping that Grace would get well soon enough. But they couldn't just give up on her, not after what Mrs. C yelled out last night. It seemed that she and Maggie were the ones who didn't yet give up hope when everyone else almost did. That would not happen again. It couldn't.

Pearl shooed the two girls out for a while so that she could give the medicine to Grace and allow Dr. Smith to check up on her. She remembered two spoonfuls in the morning and two more in the evening. Within half an hour later, the doctor arrived wearing the same pinstriped suit carrying the black suitcase of medical supplies. Entering the den, he used the tiny lighter to check the color of her eyes. The bright pinkness from before had turned lighter, which signaled that they were getting better. Her forehead didn't feel as hot as it had been two days ago. It was still slightly warm though, meaning she was far from well. With the thermometer in her mouth, her temperature had gone down to a hundred degrees.

"Magnificent!" Dr. Smith shouted in surprise, taking the thermometer out of her. "Her temperature has nearly gone down. Seems my medicine worked after all. I ought to congratulate you on a job well done."

"Does that mean she's gonna get well soon?" Pearl asked, a small glimpse of hope filling her.

"Well I can't promise any miracles ma'am," Dr. Smith assured honestly, smiling. "But I'm positive she'll be fine soon enough. All she needs is more rest for her body to heal. Just keep givin' her that medicine for the next three days startin' tomorrow. Then after that, no more." Then he checked the watch in his vest pocket. "Oops time flies when you're keepin' track o' schedule. I gotta rush back to town now, but if yah ever have any more problems, contact me. I'm always at the office whenever I'm needed. See yah."

Pearl waved goodbye to him as he headed back on the road with his medical supplies in hand. It wouldn't feel right for her to keep him here all day in case other folks in town got sick from the flu and had to stay in bed for a week. Now that she knew Grace would get well soon, things were beginning to feel bright and cheery. So she decided to give the good news to the family.

"Good news everyone," she announced. "The fever has gone down. But that don't mean she can come out now. Nope, Grace still needs rest to recover in time. I know the doctor ain't a miracle worker, but without his help, I would never know what else to do bout Grace if her sickness got worse. Let's not forget what the holidays are all bout; a time for peace on earth and good will toward men. Maybe even a time for us to hope that Grace will turn better." She patted Ollie on the back as she passed by the pigpen. "Dr. Smith had done all he can. Now it is time for us to leave this up to the Lord."

As Pearl went into a nearby shack to gather the animals' food, everyone gathered amongst themselves in a group whispering in excitement how wonderful it was to hear that Grace's sickness had gone down.

"She'll be better, won't she Pa?" one of the piglets jumped on Ollie.

"Sure she will," Ollie answered, smiling. "But remember, Pearl says she needs more rest to recover. And that don't mean we shouldn't feel cheery. So why don't we all stop mopin' round and enjoy the day. It's Christmas Eve."

Indeed it was. The good news had lightened up everyone's Christmas spirit once again. If there was anything they all wanted for this year altogether, it was for Grace to get out of bed. Mrs. C had been right all along. How could they have almost lost hope for her? Sure they had a right to worry and be afraid for her, but that was no reason to lose faith or give up hope that things will turn out alright. It was important to keep hope alive for Grace.

As the herd had a discussion, Lucky Jack hopped by without anyone noticing him. They were all too busy talking about the good news with Maggie and Mrs. C. Most of all, everyone was congratulating Mrs. Calloway for giving a tough lesson about never giving up hope on a family member when they need it. It wasn't just her that held on to faith, it was Maggie as well. As much as Grace needed the doctor's help, she needed Lucky Jack's help to not let disappointment bring her spirits down. His story about Julia opened her eyes to realize that there may as well be others out there going through the same situation she did. Pleased by what he overheard the family talk about, he entered through the small opening of the half opened den and hopped on top of the pile of hay to surprise Grace. There she laid a bit feverish and tired, but not as serious as before. She was able to see Lucky Jack without any problems.

"Oh hello Lucky Jack," Grace said hoarsely, her voice was still a bit weak due to her sore throat. "Haven't you heard what the doctor said recently?"

"Nope," Lucky Jack nodded, "But I've heard rumors outside on my way over here. But don't get overexcited bout it just yet. The road to recovery is a long ways off. Many illnesses take time to go away, so while you're waiting to get better, let me continue where I left off on the story."

Grace nodded in understanding. What he mentioned made perfect sense. All this excitement about the good news almost made her forget about what she wanted to hear in the story. Lucky Jack left off where Julia had been ordered by Mr. Finch to plow the field but soon grew tired out in the middle.

"Weren't you going to continue where Julia stopped in the middle of the field?" Grace reminded him.

"Yep, that's where I left off missy," Lucky Jack replied, snapping his fingers. "Although it's true that everyone must work to make themselves useful, it ain't good to overwork yourself with no folks round to help out. Most of all, it ain't nice to overwork a weak or sick critter. Too much work can wear'em out or kill off their strength. And all that plowin' on the fields was leavin' poor Julia exhausted and discouraged when she realized that Mr. Finch was shoutin' for her to keep movin'. He wouldn't even let her catch her breath or rest her legs. Sad thing is some ranchers out there are more interested in gettin' the job done right away rather than allow their workers to take a rest from time to time. And Mr. Finch was one o' those ranchers. But it ain't Julia's fault she was forced to work on the plow. She did it without any choice. And to hopefully keep her new owner from sending her away, the least she could do was making herself useful."


	8. One Winter's Night

**Chapter 8: One Winters Night**

"_C'mon, move faster!" Mr. Finch demanded, giving Julia one more swat on the withers. "Is that the best you can do?"_

_The swat from the riding crop gave Julia a determination to keep moving the plow seeing that she was close to finishing up the last couple of feet. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the device with all her might. Yet she found it can be difficult to move faster when your muscles act like they don't want to cooperate. And before she could think of resting once more, she was hit with the crop twice as a reminder to keep moving. Letting out a light moan of pain, the heifer increased her steps further on. Thankfully Julia had made another fine row on the field and Mr. Finch stopped hitting her._

"_I've got to keep workin'," Julia thought to herself. The muscles in her legs were aching from exhaustion, but she refused to give in to tiresome. "I don't want to go back to the Horse Shoe Ranch. I hate Mr. Hanks."_

_Soon Julia found that she was close to completing the last row on the field. Following Mr. Finch obediently, she felt her neck ache underneath the heavy yoke as if she were carrying piles of packaging. Finally, the job of plow pulling was done. Mr. Finch turned to face Julia who was panting heavily from so much hard work. And due to not having enough rest within minutes while working, she couldn't help but collapse on the cold snowy ground._

"_Well done bovine," Mr. Finch congratulated, looking down on her. "Perhaps yah ain't as slow or dimwitted as I thought you'd be. Because it's winter, I won't send yah away this time. So I'm givin' yah at least three months to rest inside the barn till spring comes. Remember, this is only a warm-up. So be prepared when the real work begins."_

_Unhooking the yoke, Mr. Finch removed the heavy device off of Julia's head and threw the rope around her neck to lead her back to the barn. But Julia wouldn't budge. The aches in her muscles would not allow movement. This made Mr. Finch lose his temper as he stomped toward her to whack her on the head with the riding crop._

"_Get up, it's time to head back to the barn!" he demanded, thrashing her nape. "I said get up!"_

_Reluctantly, Julia managed to get up on her two front feet before slowly rising with her back legs. While she was not used to being bossed around like this, she didn't want to enrage Mr. Finch any further than she thought she already had. But why must it be so hard for her to please a master who doesn't treat her right?_

"_Now follow me!" he ordered, tugging roughly on her rope._

_Walking behind her new master, Julia assumed that what happened today was the life of a working animal; hitting, yelling, and working without rest. And she didn't like it one bit that's for sure. Reaching the barn, Mr. Finch opened the gate to her stall and shoved her back in._

"_Have a nice day," he said before he left and shut the doors to the barn._

_To relax her tired body, Julia went over to the bed of warm hay and laid down to rest. What a terrible way to work. It was as if she had been working for eternity; especially when she was not allowed any rest within the next couple of minutes._

"_So how'd it go?" Cassidy spoke to Julia curiously when she noticed how exhausted the newcomer appeared lying sideways. It seemed Mr. Finch worked her so hard that she was worn out entirely._

"_I hate workin'," Julia replied, facing Cassidy. "Well…I mean to say…I don't like workin' till my muscles hurt. I hate to admit it, but I don't think I wanna be a workin' animal no more. Not if I have to help out this way. Is this what work is all about?"_

"_Well honey that depends on how you think of it to be," Cassidy replied, letting out a sigh. "But you're right. It shouldn't have to be this way if our masters don't allow us any rest within minutes. The boys said they saw everything that happened on the field."  
The mention of the horses brought worry amongst Julia as she lifted her head up. What would they think of her right now?_

"_They saw everything?" she asked anxiously. "Oh no." She shook her head with shame._

"_Me and Flower regretfully overheard Sparks talk bout how yah couldn't keep up with the demands o' Mr. Finch when he started hittin' you with that riding crop. We won't go into details, but we told him and Crossfire to go choke on apples. Unfortunately it seems we can't change their opinions on newcomers, but me and Flower know yah tried your hardest to please Mr. Finch; even if it might have not been a good start."_

"_Thanks Cassidy," Julia yawned, feeling both tired and comforted. "I don't mean to complain or sound ungrateful, but it bothers me to work like this while someone close to me is yellin' and hittin' to make me move faster. Now all I wanna do today is relax my muscles."_

"_We don't blame yah Julia," Flower spoke, peering over her stall. "Yet that's the life for most workin' animals as far as we know. And it disturbs me to hear Mr. Finch yellin' at someone to work harder till they wear out. It ain't right, but that's how it is for us livin' here. But don't worry bout it anymore this season. Spring is three months away, so that's plenty o' time to rest your tired muscles."_

_Julia smiled a bit, glad to hear the kind words of her new companions as she lowered her head on the hay to rest her eyes. Before she could thank them, sleep overtook her. Already that hard work on the fields felt too much for her to handle alone. If only there was a way to keep going without tiring so quickly. Then she would be yelled at less. Oh well, Julia decided that she would not worry about it anymore for today and the rest of this winter. Inside it was warm and cozy enough to keep out the coldness that seeped in her body all day outside. From time to time, she would turn left to right sideways to get more comfortable. She could almost fall asleep for the whole winter just for her worn out body to recover. Of course that was not in her nature as other hibernating animals in the wilderness. So all she could do was stay inside and wait until Mr. Finch said it was alright to go outside again._

"_Poor little girl," Cassidy sighed, feeling pity for Julia who was still dead tired from exhaustion. "It must be hard for her to go through all this. Endurin' the cruelty of a horrible master, bein' separated from a loved one, and now preparin' to work endless hours durin' springtime."_

"_Don't worry Cassidy," Flower assured, watching Julia sleep. "She'll pull through with it. I know it wasn't easy for me to get used to livin' here the first time. All we can do is hope."_

"_You're right," Cassidy nodded. "And I almost forgot to mention to her that whenever Mr. Finch don't take it easy on us, Mark's always there to step in and advises for him to not lose his patience or else the ranch might be outta luck this year."_

_It was true what Cassidy mentioned. But the reason Mark wasn't there to help defend Julia was because of him working inside one of the other barns all day. The closed doors prevented him from hearing any sort of racket, except the cries of the animals he had been tending to. His job on the ranch was to nail horseshoes on the horses, milk the cows and goats, and feed the rest of animals while Mr. Finch would do some chores inside the house and stables._

"_If Julia's lucky by spring, perhaps Mr. Finch will leave it up to Mark to watch her as she does the plowin'. He's much gentler with workin' animals. Like I said, all we can do is hope she'll pull through," Flower assured, turning to have a snack in the trough. There was nothing more for her to say for the rest of the afternoon._

_Cassidy could only shrug her shoulders and turn to snacking on some grain. They decided not to disturb Julia while she was resting. Perhaps working for hours out in the fields wasn't her kind of work to do. It was actually done by both an ox and a large horse. The job of a cow was actually to give milk for families to make cream, butter, and cheese. Cheese however, was a disgusting and unhealthy product to both Flower and Cassidy due to all the other disturbing rumors they heard about what else humans use to make it. But because of what they learned, they would mention no word of it to Julia and hope that none of them ever give birth to a calf. Humans were becoming sillier every century._

_In their stalls, Sparks and Crossfire had been listening and watching the girls' conversations with each other. Sparks still couldn't believe the two girls were being nice to the outsider taking his job with pulling the plow. Now she's all weak and worn out._

"_Stupid bovine," he mumbled to himself quietly. "If I had been out there, the job would've been done in half an hour. I knew she couldn't handle the job. Now she's passed out like the weaklin' she is."_

"_Relax Sparks," Crossfire whispered, swallowing a bit of hay. "If she ain't cut out to be a workin' animal, then Mr. Finch will likely send her back to her old master. I ain't fond of her either, but what can we do bout that?"_

"_Don't know," responded Sparks, staring at a sleeping Julia. Crossfire went back to eating his meal without another word. He had nothing more interesting to say to his partner. If there was a way for Sparks to come up with a plot on getting rid of Julia, he was unable to think of one. "Bah, it's so hard to think when you're havin' a bad day." He snorted. For the rest of the afternoon, he continued eating and minding his own business. If he did have a plan, then it would have to wait. But as he stood munching on some oats and hay, he and Crossfire had no clue that Mr. Finch had a different plan of his own for Julia._

* * *

_That night_

"_That new cow I bought is a weak worker," Mr. Finch complained, feeding the pigs with leftovers that he didn't want. "And she ain't much to look at. Maybe I should've kept searchin' for a stronger animal…like an ox instead."_

"_But then why'd yah buy her?" Mark asked, cleaning the stalls of several horses._

"_To pull the plow o' course," Mr. Finch replied sternly. "My other horse Sparks can't do the job himself. He may be fast, but forty acres o' fields is too much for one workin' animal."_

"_Well then maybe the new girl just needs to be fed properly and given more time to get used to livin' here," Mark suggested. "I know all this cause me and my Pa worked with livestock for years. It can take a long while for them to learn how to work, but they'll get it eventually. I could be wrong, but it sounds like her old master didn't take care o' her like he should've."_

_Mr. Finch laughed a little at this. He had never heard of ranchers mistreating their livestock in this part of Wyoming. It sounded a bit like silly nonsense. But on the other hand, Mark seemed to have a good point._

'_Hmm," he mumbled thoughtfully, pouring the last pail of slop. "Very well, you'll give her plenty o' food n' shelter until I decide what's to be done with her. She may stay for now."_

"_Yes sir," Mark left to go tend to the horses and cows in the stables._

_Watching him leave, Mr. Finch carried the empty pails back to where all the farm tools were kept all winter season. In truth rather than take Mark's advice on being patient with Julia, he believed that the new girl was nothing more than a lazy slowpoke whose only interest was sleeping and eating. And the only way to handle a scrawny animal like her was to sell her at the market. Any buyer was bound to pay a good price for her. Rather than send her back to Mr. Hanks like in the deal, he would sell her at the market. As long as the whether wasn't too bad by tomorrow or in a week, then he would start on the road to town with Julia first thing in the morning. With all the farm chores done for tonight, the rancher walked back to his house to get some sleep_

"_I don't care what Mark says," he murmured, taking his boots off by the bed. "I ain't gonna deal with her stubbornness all winter. First thing tomorrow, I'm takin' her to town." Then he blew out the lamp lights._

* * *

_In the stables_

_Julia couldn't sleep well that night, her mind full of confusion and worry about the future. She was wide awake, staring blankly at the wall of her stall to the left. Flower and Cassidy noticed her perplexed expression and thought it would be a good idea to cheer her up by telling her the importance of a special holiday. They too were wide awake as Sparks and Crossfire had already fallen asleep in their stalls._

"_Yah know Julia honey," Cassidy began. "Winters not all bad to tell yah the truth. Haven't yah ever heard of that one special day called Christmas?"_

"_No, what is Christmas?" Julia shook her head._

"_Yah haven't?" Flower gasped. "Then you've been missin' out on what's in the outside world."_

"_It's only because Mr. Hanks no longer cared for us and never celebrates anything as far as I knew," Julia admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "We were never allowed to roam free outside."_

"_Poor dear," said Cassidy sadly, but pushed that thought aside and carried on the discussion. "Christmas as we know is a lovable, most wonderful time o' the year. Every December 25__th__, it is the day folks around the world celebrate the birth o' a babe born in a stable. Me n' Flower heard these rumors from Mark and a couple o' visitors from the neighborhood." She gave Julia a wink._

_With all her worries slowly drifting off, those feelings were replaced with interest in wanting to know more about this day called Christmas. Cassidy narrated that it all started somewhere in the little town of Bethlehem._


	9. Running Away

**Chapter 9: Running Away**

_Julia sat listening to the story of the first Christmas as Cassidy mentioned angels, the guiding star, the three wise men, and all the animals that gathered around the stable. This tale was referred to as the Nativity story. As many years passed after this day, folks around the world celebrate this special day by attending church or gathering with friends and family around the fireplace at home. During that time, factories began producing merchandise that made life easier and people started earning more than enough money for important things. Festivities grew as folks had time and money to celebrate, decorate, and buy gifts for loved ones as a sign of showing them love and care. Another example of showing the Christmas spirit was by decorating the house with beautiful colors starting weeks before Christmas. Evergreen branches, wreaths, boughs of fir, spruce, and other evergreens were hung inside and out to welcome guests. Fireplace mantels were draped with garlands of holly, ivy, pine cones, and flowers. And that special thing called mistletoe hung above the door as two folks kissed underneath it._

"_And don't forget the advent wreath," added Flower. "I heard it holds four candles that stand for faith, joy, love, and peace. And it marks the four weeks before Christmas."_

"_Wow, I never knew that," said Julia cheerfully._

"_That's because you've never been allowed outside your stall to see," Cassidy replied with a wink. "We don't blame yah. In fact, the most important decoration of all was the Christmas tree. I believe it was set up on Christmas Eve and taken down on January 6__th__, the twelfth day of Christmas. It too was showered with lovely decorations as folks placed their gifts under the tree."_

"_It sounds like a wonderful holiday Cassidy," Julia grew excited with every specific detail. Now it was giving her that feeling of wanting to run away from here and explore the neighborhood to see if folks here really celebrated it. "I don't mean to be rude, but haven't you or Flower ever wanted to leave this ranch and explore what was beyond the neighborhood?"_

_Taken aback by that question of hers, Cassidy was quiet for a moment. Nobody ever asked her that before and she didn't know how to respond. "Well Julia honey, o' course we sometimes get tired o' stayin' indoors all the time…but we can never leave this ranch under any circumstances. It's far too dangerous n' deadly to travel by ourselves durin' a great blizzard. And the wilderness is the most dangerous place for us cattle n' horses to be trapped in. Why do yah think ranchers put up fences?"_

"_To keep us from running away?" Julia guessed._

"_That's right," Cassidy answered earnestly. "And we ain't allowed to travel anyplace without the master. Or else, we'd be left to fend for ourselves." _

_Julia lowered her head to the ground with disappointment taking over. What if she was just acting plain silly when she thought that there may be more to life than just staying here in the barn where there was nothing to do but talk and eat? But Julia still didn't want to believe that. Mr. Finch was not as terrible as Mr. Hanks, but like Flower and Cassidy, she didn't like him at all. Why couldn't he be kinder as she worked? Then she felt a gentle nudge from Cassidy beside her neck._

"_Please try to understand honey," Cassidy said gently. "It ain't safe for you, me or Flower to go wanderin' off the safety o' the farm. Whether we like Mr. Finch or not, at least we're fed and kept safe inside these stables. That's just how it is."_

"_I understand," Julia said softly in a sad tone. "And I'm sorry." Her eyes stung with regretful tears. And in a way she was. She hated to have to question the ways of farm life, but she couldn't help herself sometimes, even after what her two companions explained on her first day here in the barn. Julia supposed they were right about learning to accept living in a home by an unloving master; especially when it was always the decision of the farmer to make._

"_Please don't be sorry," Cassidy noticed how pink and watery her eyes were. "It's important to talk when something's botherin' yah. You've done your best out in the field today, despite how impatient and angry Mr. Finch sounded. And the next time he puts yah to work out there, don't give in to whatever hurtful names he might call yah if the plow starts slowin' yah down. Just keep workin' at it and eventually you'll get used to it."_

_Allowing Julia to sob the last of her tears, Julia at last choked, "Thank you Cassidy. I'll try my hardest."_

"_I believe yah," Cassidy licked the side of Julia's face soothingly for comfort. "Now you should get some rest. It's late already. Me and Flower don't know everything, but we do know it's time to go to sleep."_

_Julia nodded in agreement. She was once again tired and lay down on the hay to close her eyes. Although she hated Mr. Finch and his demands, she decided to think of other cheerful dreams such as Christmas. A picture instantly showed up in her mind's eye. Just as Cassidy described in the stories, she found herself among other farm animals gathering around a manger where a baby slept peacefully. _

* * *

_The next morning_

_The morning clouds rose over the hills and forests as its rays pierced even the gloomiest parts of the neighborhood. And inside the stables of Mr. Finch's ranch, a young cream coated bovine stirred at the scent of fresh air starting a new day. Only that day started out tiring as most mornings were for Julia. And like yesterday, she'd much rather sleep in till noon or until she was feeling wide awake. Nothing would disturb her of the beautiful dreams in her mind, at least that's what she thought…until the doors burst open unexpectedly._

"_Up with yah bovine!" came the demanding voice of Mr. Finch. In his hands, he held a leather halter and a bullwhip. "We're goin' to take a trip down town." His tone sounded threatening as he opened her stall to enter._

_A sleepy eyed Julia did not know what was happening as strong hands seized her head and jerked it upwards. Next thing she felt was a leathery material over her face and tied in a tight grip. Forced up on her feet, Julia stared at Mr. Finch in confusion and fear rising up as she found that he placed a halter over her head. And this could only mean one thing: he wasn't going to keep her._

"_I said move yah lazy heifer!" he snapped, pulling hard on the lead attached to her halter. "I made up my mind last night. Yah ain't fit to be my workin' animal, so I'm takin' yah to town to sell yah myself."_

_SELL!? Julia's eyes widened with terror at that horrifying word he mentioned. Much as she hated being poked and yelled at, she did not wish to be sold off again and shipped over to an unknown destination. She reared her head back, hoping it would be enough to prevent him from taking her out in the cold weather._

"_Do yah wish for me to use this whip on yah?" Mr. Finch warned, patting the bullwhip around his left arm. But Julia wasn't listening. Bellowing and moaning in fear, the frightened heifer reared her legs up repeatedly in the air refusing to obey his demands. "Alright, I warned yah!" In a fury, the rancher took hold of the bullwhip to strike her. "Now yah asked for it!"_

_Julia suddenly stopped rearing and stepped back in alarm when she saw what she hoped would never see again. Slipping on her back legs, Mr. Finch began to strike her scarred up back violently in which Julia bellowed in pain. Her reopened cuts stained her beautiful coat and a few drops of blood dripped onto the ground in her stable. The crack of the whip awakened Flower and Cassidy in a start as they were both staring in shock at what their master was doing to poor Julia. Yelling at her out in the fields was one thing, but this was unacceptable. Sparks and Crossfire were awakened too, and were surprised, but not as shocked as the cows. Sparks on the other hand watched with amusement as he found that Mr. Finch was handling her the way he had been hoping. In that kind of condition, there was no way she would ever be taking his job. He never liked her the moment she stepped into this barn on the first day._

_By the time Mr. Finch gave her twenty strikes, Cassidy could not bear it any longer and started to kick and bellow angrily at the gate to her stall hoping that the rancher would stop whipping Julia and pay attention to her instead. Flower noticed this and followed in her position. The two cows would not stand to see their master mistreat Julia the way her old owner had done. Their bellowing did indeed attract Mr. Finch's attention, yet instead of stopping, he only shouted at the cows as he kept going._

"_Shut up or I'll whip the both o' yah!" he snapped, whipping Julia harder. Blood smeared the bullwhip as she cried out in agony. The poor heifer was given forty lashes which left her swaying dizzily and fell on the ground. "Now get up and march to the wagon!" The impatient man gave her a kick in the withers. A defeated Julia slowly got up on her feet, ignoring the stinging pain on her injured back. Taking one step forward, she fell back down. Mr. Finch was filled with rage and impatience. "Get up you good-for-nothin' heifer!" he kicked her more._

_This did nothing but cause anger within Julia to rise up and gave her the urge to bite and kick her owner hatefully. And before Mr. Finch could give her another strike with the whip, Flower and Cassidy burst out of their stalls and lunged out at the rancher together. Due to their heavy weight, Mr. Finch could not push them off or get up. No matter how much he hollered or snapped at the two, the girls gave him a few punches and kicks to make sure he would never lay a finger on Julia. Cassidy also snatched the bullwhip out of his hand with her teeth and threw it aside. At this time, the girls could care less about what happens afterward when Mr. Finch recovers from his injuries or what the horses would think of their rebellion. But for one thing, no other farm animal like Julia deserved to be treated so cruelly like that. And they were not about to let Mr. Finch carry out the brutality._

"_Julia, get out of here, run!" Cassidy shouted as Julia got up on her feet, despite the pain. "We'll hold him back for you…NOW GO!"_

_Startled, there was no time for Julia to argue with her as she dashed out of the stables with renewed energy. To make an escape out toward the trail made her feel free and filled with determination to run away as fast as possible so that hopefully no human would ever hurt her again or work her to death. She fled from the barn and found herself making an escape through the entrance of the ranch from where she entered on her first day. Part of her wanted to go back and kick the tar out of Mr. Finch, but forgot that her two companions were doing that for her so she could make her escape. Some of the animals such as the sheep witnessed her galloping off from the property of the barn and thought she must have been out of her mind to do something daring like that. None of them ever thought of attempting such a dangerous thing. It was suicide._

"_I can't believe they did that," Julia said in disbelief, her mind turning to her two friends' bravery. "Flower and Cassidy rebelled to save my hide. I can't believe it."_

_This thought sent a feeling of excitement and astonishment in her. The open road lay directly in front of her where folks in the neighborhood outside the cabin houses were minding their own business with their daily chores. Everyone was too busy to notice that a cow was running down the road by herself when she was spotted by a farmer. But he assumed that wherever she came from, her owner would be coming for her eventually. Julia ignored the cries of curious neighbors and children to focus on her escape attempt down the trail._

_Then when she felt her breath grow faint and tired, Julia slowed down and stopped to rest and catch her breath. After five minutes, she walked onto where most wagons and riders usually drove. If she should spot an oncoming wheel, she knew when to jump out of the way. This would be the first time she was on her own traveling without a human. With every cruel act inflicted on her, Julia never wanted to see or have anything to do with humans again. She had only known two mean and tyrannical owners with no love or compassion in their hearts. While walking, Julia felt sorry for her two companions back at the ranch who were probably still fighting off Mr. Finch for her defense. Looking back where she escaped, she wondered how many injuries Mr. Finch received by now. She missed the two terribly. But she couldn't go back, not when Cassidy ordered her to run away before it was too late for her. There was only one road to follow. And she hoped it would lead her to safety and happiness wherever that may be. Adventuring out in the world was much better than staying in an unhappy barn._

_At that moment when she was still walking thoughtfully, familiar voices called out to her. It was neither Mark nor Mr. Finch. It certainly wasn't Sparks or Crossfire. She doubted that. She turned around to find that it was Flower and Cassidy trotting toward her hastily. Julia couldn't believe her eyes as she ceased walking to wait for them. As soon as the two caught up with her, Julia almost couldn't find the right words to say._

"_Flower, Cassidy, what're you two doin' here?" Julia asked in enjoyment of seeing them. "I though yah would've stayed behind."_

"_Yah didn't think we was gonna let yah go out into that world all by yourself without friends did yah?" Cassidy tested to see how Julia would respond. "Listen, forget what I mentioned last night bout learning' to live with a man like Finch for a while. I take it back. Me n' Flower weren't gonna let him carry out that whip no longer."_

"_We believed it wouldn't be right to stay behind in the stables while a friend out there is riskin' her life not knowin' where to make her start on an adventure," Flower added evenly. "So we thought yah wouldn't mind havin' us tag along."_

"_Yah mean you're comin' with me?" Julia's heart filled with joy._

"_Sure why not?" Flower answered. "The boys don't seem to accept us anyway."_

_Soon afterward, the girls made their start down the trail of the open road. No matter where it led, something new was bound to be beyond the hills._


	10. Christmas in Town

**Chapter 10: Christmas in Town**

"Wow, I'm glad those two stopped that varmint from hurting poor Julia," Grace said proudly in a weak tone. "Serves him right."

"That it does missy," Lucky Jack agreed. "Folks like that Finch varmint and Mr. Hanks are so full o' themselves that all they know are anger, hate, arrogance, and impatience. Then they take all that negative feelin' out on those who done no wrong to them in the first place. And that's what brought out the inner fighter in both Flower n' Cassidy when they saw how Julia needed help. Those two could care less bout bein' mocked at by them foolish horses or what Mr. Finch might do to them if he ever recovered. But after the fightin', the girls didn't wanna think bout what might happen to Julia travelin' alone without any proper guidance. So they decided to tag along. They didn't know much o' what was out there, but nothin' was gonna stand in the way."

"That's so sweet of them," Grace coughed a bit, covering her mouth. Her throat still tickled and she tried hard not to talk so loud. "Them being together reminds me of how we set out to save our farm."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, now where did I leave off?" Lucky Jack scratched his chin until he finally remembered. "Aha, anyways Julia along with her travelin' partners decided to go wherever the road may take'em."

* * *

_In her mind personally, Julia wanted to decline having Flower and Cassidy tag along not wanting to drag them into whatever danger might be awaiting her. But the girls insisted that friends stick together and never leave anybody behind. And like Julia, they were prepared to leave the life of living with Mr. Finch behind. It wasn't that they didn't appreciate being fed and groomed, but it turned out that no one in the barn was fond of them or their sense of humor and kindness. The horses in the stables had always thought they were stuck up because of it. That made the two feel like outsiders on the inside ever since the first day they had to live there. In other words, they were not wanted. All the sheep, goats, and pigs in the other barn were alright, but they didn't think much of anything._

"_So the stable boys never liked the both o' yah?" Julia asked, walking in between Flower and Cassidy. "I bet it felt lonely bein' different from everyone else."_

"_It can be," Cassidy admitted with a bit of sadness in her voice. "Those silly boys thought of us as stuck up and weird because o' our fussin' n' chattin' bout how we wished for a change."_

"_Honestly, who wants to live in a home where no one accepts yah for who yah are?" Flower added in an unsatisfying tone. "Not me for sure."_

"_And I never realized that there would be a time when Mr. Finch would cross the line like that," Cassidy was mentioning about the whipping. "No other animal, smart or dumb deserves that kind o' treatment." Then she thought about Sparks and Crossfire. Did they deserve it? Certainly not; but due to their arrogant behavior toward Julia, the things those boys did deserve was a good tongue lashing. "But I must confess, I always thought that dastardly Sparks deserved a good tongue lashin' from us. What a brute."_

"_Thanks for savin' me," Julia almost forgot to mention. She didn't want the girls to think she was rude by not thanking them for helping her out back in the barn. The pain in her wounds caused her to flinch unexpectedly. "Ugh, my back hurts."_

"_Oh my goodness, we better get those cleaned up," Cassidy looked down on Julia's newly made scars from Mr. Finch. "Hold still." She licked at her wounds to clean them and take away the pain. But with this many, it may need more than a gentle grooming to heal properly. Flower helped out as well. Then an idea popped in her mind._

"_Wait, what if there's a town nearby where we could…nah that's impossible," she shook her head doubtfully._

"_No, what is it Flower?" Cassidy encouraged, still licking Julia's wounds. "Whatever you're thinkin' might help Julia."_

"_Well I was wonderin' if there might be a doctor's office in town where he might have somethin' that'll help heal Julia's wounds," Flower confessed. "It's just a suggestion, even if it might sound ridiculous."_

_  
"Helpin' a friend isn't ridiculous," Cassidy said sharply, even though she knew Flower had a good point about what the doctor might think if one of them walked up like a normal citizen. "However, you're idea is a good one. If the doctor sees three bovines walk by his office, he'll likely think that we belong to a wagon rider close by. I'm not sure, but if we don't find a town, then we'll clean Julia's hide at a lake if we should see one."_

_It was a good plan. Now that the girls were loners, their only option was to wander the outside world until they find whatever it is they're looking for. And there was no doubt that anybody back at Mr. Finch's ranch would ever miss having them around. It would be nice to find a new home on a ranch where all the animals accept them and the owners take great care of them until an old age. But where would they ever find a home like that? _

* * *

_Later on_

_The three bovines stopped to rest at an unfrozen river to drink from and to clean Julia's wounds on her hide. The freezing water at first shook her knees and body, but Julia eventually got used to it when she felt her sore back decrease from the stinging pain. When she was done, Cassidy showed her how to dry herself by shaking every drip of water off her body. This would have to be repeated every few minutes otherwise the cold air might make her sick. The snow on the ground crunched from each step the girls took by walking without a stop._

_Soon they were off again on the trail. To their surprise, a town was just up ahead. There didn't seem to be that much folks wandering the streets. Either they were inside the buildings or just not visiting often today. Because the girls had never visited a boomtown, they were unaware that the citizens were inside a few stores doing some holiday shopping for Christmas. That special day was only a week and a half away. Sometimes a stagecoach would come riding on the streets so when that happened; the girls were smart enough to walk along the street where it was safe. Reaching an enormous sign in front of town it was labeled Wheelbarrow Town._

"_That's quite an odd name for a town," Flower stated, although neither she or the girls couldn't read, a bird from a tree on their way here gave them advice on where to find the closest town with a big sign. "But it does look rather friendly."_

_Indeed it was. Standing out in front of store entrances were folks dressed in the warmest winter garments and bonnets singing songs of Christmas, Santa, and Jesus. These groups of singers were called carolers. Beautiful melodies, played on hand bells, chimed through the air. Each bell had a different ring and would play a different order as a song was played._

_Immediately Julia grew dream dazed and enchanted when the carolers sang song titles such as Away in a Manger, Go Tell it on the Mountain, The First Noel, We Three Kings, Joy to the World, Jingle Bells, and The Little Drummer Boy. When one of them became stuck in her head, she hummed the tune all the way to the doctor's office._

"_You like the carols don'tcha Julia?" Cassidy asked, pleased to see that Julia was taking an interest in the Christmas season. "So do I; although I ain't that much of a singer myself. But its still fun to listen to."_

"_And to think I've been missin' out on all this every winter," Julia still gazed in awe at the beautifully handmade decorations, hollies, wreaths, and mistletoes hung on a couple of buildings to increase the Christmas spirit. "It's like I'm in some sort o' dream."_

"_Look at the window," Flower pointed her head toward a shop window where the girls walked over to take a look at the handmade toys, hand-sewn clothes, dolls, puppets, dollhouses, a rocking horse, a miniature zoo, board games, and wind-up toys. Having never visited a town before, she asked. "What are these things? They're so dazzlin'."_

"_I think the humans call them toys," Cassidy mentioned. "I remember Mark mentionin' that parents wrap these toys as gifts under the tree for their children to open on Christmas mornin'. Once they're opened, the children play with'em for hours till mealtime."_

_Passing by the toy store window, the girls moved on to the next building which was the book shop. In that window, there stood books with Christmas novels, histories of The Nativity, and the legend of Santa Clause and where he got his name._

"_I wish I could learn to read," Julia sighed, staring at the illustration image cover of Saint Nick. "All those books seem wonderful."_

"_Well I never heard of any human teachin' a cow or horse to read," Flower admitted truthfully. "Only human children are taught that skill. Maybe its cause they think we bovines don't need to learn that stuff."_

"_But I sure would wanna know more details bout where folks got this idea," argued Julia, although she didn't mean to do so. "Bein' forced to live in confinement had me dreamin' to get a taste o' the outside world to see what its like. The more I see all this, the more I wanna know."_

"_You, me and Cassidy all have a lifetime to know bout things," Flower said kindly. "Now that we're free, no whip is gonna hold us down while everything goes by without us. What happened before is now in the past, remember that. We should be more focused on what is now."_

"_You're right," Julia nodded her head, smiling. Flower had an excellent point. "I do miss my foster mother Susannah, but I guess there's nothin' I can do but try to let it go." Deep down, Julia felt it wouldn't be easy, but knowing that she had two friends sticking close to her, she'd give it a try._

"_Don't hold on to the past sugar," Cassidy advised, turning from the window. "Its today that matters, not yesterday."_

"_Oh I almost forgot," Flower changed the subject. "Hate to spoil the fun, but weren't we still on our way to the doctor's office so he could help fix Julia?"_

"_Uh, oh yeah good thinkin' Flower," replied Cassidy. "Let's go straight ahead."_

_The girls passed by the joyously streets where some more shoppers and carolers rang. Luckily a friendly carriage horse pointed to a white painted house where the doctor waited inside. He informed the girls that the man treated both humans and animals whenever possible. The folks in this town depended on him. They called him Dr. Hank Rogers or Dr. Rogers for short. If a human took pity on a stray dog or homeless child, then surely one might do the same for a lone bovine. It had to work._

"_If that's the doctor's office, then he must be a fabulous painter," murmured Flower, eyeing the whitish color. "But other than that, let's go knock."_

_Taking a deep breath, the two friends encouraged Julia to stand outside in the front door as she knocked. Inside she thought that she heard footsteps approaching. The door opened to reveal a man in his forties with dirty blond hair dressed in grey pants, a white sleeved shirt and a black vest worn over. Usually in most other towns, a citizen would often become angry when they spot an unwanted animal on their property without an owner. Rather than be angry, the doctor looked at Julia with curiosity._

"_Howdy there little girl," he said politely as if she were a human child at his door. "What're yah doin' at my doorstep all by yourself?" He furrowed his brow. "And where's your owner? No cow should be travelin' out all…" that was when he peered over at the scars on Julia's back. "Oh my, who did this to you girl?" _

_Stepping out, he stood by Julia and placed his hands on her sides to peer deeper. Evidently, these seemed to be done by a whip no doubt. Having treated many patients, he knew these scars needed treatment right away before one of them caused an infection. Although he understood that cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens were often raised for food, he believed that humans had no right to treat them with cruelty like this._

"_Come with me out back," he finally instructed Julia. "My office is too small for you to enter. But there is a large shed there where I can treat yah. Follow me."_

_Judging by his appearance, Julia secretly thought she and her companions knew better than to trust a human to take care of her. He didn't seem threatening when he looked at her scars and offered to take her to the back where he would tend to them. Hearing this made her feel nervous, especially when the memory of being taken inside the woodshed by Mr. Hanks rang inside. Would this man help or inflict the same cruelty on her like all the other men?_

"_Come on girl," Dr. Rogers called to her tenderly, opening the door to a large wooden shack. "I ain't gonna hurt yah. I only wanna help. But I can't do it unless yah come forward." He held out some hay from a pile inside the shack. Julia hadn't had anything to eat in some time._

"_Go on Julia," encouraged Flower. "Just follow him inside. We'll be waitin' right here."_

_Again Julia looked at the doctor gesturing her with the hay, unsure if she should trust this man. But his voice seemed calm instead of angry when he called for her again. So she had no choice but to do as he said. She didn't want her friends to think that she was judgmental of every human being, including the kind ones like the doctor. Perhaps this meant she shouldn't judge before knowing. Leading her inside, the doctor had her lie down flat on her stomach to have a better look at the scars. Using a special healing ointment, he spread it all over the visible cuts which made Julia flinch. Still she remained calm as the doctor assured her this was to help her back heal up. This treatment went on for another hour and left Julia feeling better._


	11. Curiosity Killed the Cow

**Chapter 11: Curiosity Killed the Cow**

_The healing ointment had indeed done the trick. It stung her back a little, but Julia did not budge unless the doctor said it was alright to move. This was to be her first time to be treated by someone like him. And he had done it with gentleness and compassion rather than anger and impatience. As the doctor tended to another scar, Julia felt relieved and better when she realized that Flower had the right suggestion to see him. If she ever wanted to get better in the first place, she needed to push her judgment aside for while to let the doctor do his job. Dr. Rogers himself didn't understand why three cows suddenly appeared on his front porch without an owner, yet taking pity on Julia's condition, he couldn't find it in his heart to leave those wounds unattended. He suspected that either these girls ran away or were possibly abandoned by their owner. Never had he heard rumors of cows that went out on their own._

"_Excuse me Dr. Rogers."_

_The doctor being distracted with his treatment never noticed a tall brown haired man in a brown leather jacket stand behind him unexpectedly. That is not until he spoke up; hating to have to interrupt whatever treatment he was working at. Standing up, he turned to the human visitor. His eyes were sea green and his thin face was clean shaved._

"_Why howdy there Mr. Andrews," Dr. Rogers greeted. "What can I do yah for today?"_

"_Sorry to interrupt your treatment doctor," confessed Mr. Andrews. "But I was wonderin' if yah had any remedies for coughs, colds, and fevers. The snows comin' on and I know winters the worst time o' year to be catchin'em. My daughter Emily's been coughin' odd recently and both me n' Bethany are quite concerned."_

"_Where is she now Mr. Andrews?"_

"_She's in the wagon with my wife."_

_Dr. Rogers turned his gaze to Julia for a moment and then turned back to Ted._

"_Alright I'll go check. But do yah think you could watch my patient here for me while I go tend to her?"_

"_Sure can," Mr. Andrews answered as politely as he could._

_He watched the doctor rush up in front to check on his daughter. Looking down on Julia, he noticed this poor heifer had been suffering from terrible cuts across her back. In fact, he'd never seen a cow in a terrible condition such as this, even when working with a few in the neighborhood._

"_Hey there girl," he said calmly, not wanting to alarm her. "Who did this to you?" He slowly put his gloved hand on her lower back._

_Julia did feel a bit alarmed when this other man talked and touched her. The sound of his tone felt similar to the ones who mistreated her. But she knew that she couldn't move out of here until the doctor came back. So far this other man did nothing to harm her. If he was as nice as he made himself to be, maybe she should let him watch her as the doctor asked of him. _

_Flower and Cassidy weren't quite pleased with this man touching Julia themselves. But when the girls saw that he did not hit, shout, or do anything else harmful to her, they stood back and watched him with caution just in case. The humans in this town that they've seen were usually calmed, friendly, and quite cheerful. Still it was better to be on alert for the nasty type. It was a matter of their survival._

"_I don't like how that man is laying a hand on Julia," Cassidy whispered to Flower. "Don't yah think he might be dangerous?"_

"_I don't think so," answered Flower, gazing at him. "If he truly was the nasty type, he'd be doin' somethin' displeasin' already. But nevertheless, let's just keep an eye on him."_

"_Good point," agreed Cassidy, despite her concerned feeling._

_Ten minutes later, Dr. Rogers arrived back to inform Mr. Andrews what he knew. He told him that his daughter was coming down with a mild cold, but could be treated right away with the remedies in his office. All she needed was to keep warm at all times and given medicine twice a day. Handing him a large blue bottle, Mr. Andrews gave him a few coins as payment for his services. Before leaving, Mr. Andrews had a few questions about the cows._

"_Pardon me for askin' doctor," he began, clearing his throat. "But do yah know what might've happened to that poor girl inside?" he pointed at Julia still lying down on her stomach._

"_I don't know Mr. Andrews," the doctor replied. "When I heard a knock at my door this afternoon, I opened the door to find her standin' there as if she were tellin' me somethin' was wrong. It might sound strange, but it looked to me that someone might've hurt her severely with a whip o' some kind."_

"_That's terrible," Mr. Andrews was stunned. "Who would treat their own workin' animal like that?"_

"_A drunkard that is," answered Dr. Rogers angrily, thinking the same thing as Mr. Andrews. Soon his tone became calm again. "But I can't be sure o' that. Either these cows who dropped by ran away or were abandoned I suppose. They don't seem to have a bell on them at all. And if I knew where they came from, I don't think I'd ever wanna send'em back. However, it is against the law to steal cattle. Just as it is to steal children no matter how much they hate livin' in a bad household."_

"_I for one don't believe in a law that forces children to live in a place like that," admitted Mr. Andrews. "And I would never whip my workin' animals severely, even if they're stubborn. Plus it teaches them nothin' but fear and mistrust o' their owner. A rancher must always be gentle, calm, and patient when handlin' them. Otherwise they'll never grow to be hard workers." Looking over at Julia with pity in his eyes, he maintained. "Whoever owned that cow missed the point."_

"_If I did own the girls myself, I'd sell them to you," Dr. Rogers acknowledged. "But if they did run away, then their owner must be out searchin' for them as we speak."_

"_Can't argue with that doctor," Mr. Andrews acquiesced. "Got to be on our way. Thanks for the medicine."_

"_Don't mention it."_

_The doctor waved goodbye to Mr. Andrews as he rode off down the street on his wagon. Indeed it was illegal to steal livestock and the doctor didn't like to admit it when he saw an animal in bad condition caused by their owner. These girls had no bell or brand mark on them. But who knew if that owner was out looking for them. Walking back to the shack, he went to check on Julia. Apparently she was lying still as she did since the last hour that he had been tending to her._

"_My you're a good girl," he said quite pleased that she did not run off already. "I don't know who did this to yah, but I'm awfully glad yah dropped by my office. Don't like to brag, but without the ointment those cuts might not have healed properly."_

_Grateful for the doctor's kindness, Julia lifted her head up and turned it to give him a lick on the cheek as a sign of thanks._

"_Your welcome," he laughed, rubbing his cheek. By her reaction, it wasn't hard for him to tell that this cow was thanking him for his help. He loved animals, even the cows. "You can get up now, your treatment is over." He patted her gently on the withers so that she could rise up and rejoin her friends outside. "But before I let yah go…" he started to untie her halter. "…why don't I remove this thing off your face?" _

_With gentle care, the doctor freed Julia's face from the tight halter hurting her. Easing her face, Julia wanted to say "thank you" for his help, but couldn't. The least she could do was nuzzle at his face to show him that in which he luckily understood. Although her back was still stiff and a little sore, Julia had no trouble rising up and walking out of the shack where Flower and Cassidy had been waiting all this time. He watched them walk off his property and back to the busy streets of carolers and ringers._

"_So how does your back feel?" Flower asked in a motherly tone._

"_Still a bit sore, but not too much," Julia answered truthfully. "He seemed awfully nice enough to help."  
_

_"That's what doctors do sugar," Cassidy reminded. "They help folks get well. Now what else is there to explore in this town?" She looked around and waited to hear suggestions from her friends. The girls took a minute of silence to think._

_Whilst they were thinking, Julia thought she could hear music from a block away that sounded soft and heavenly. The instruments must have been like violins and trumpets. She turned her head to face the right side of the street. The music seemed to be coming in that direction. Turning back to her friends, they were still thinking while tapping their left hooves on the ground. Should she go off and see where the music came from herself? Or should she suggest that they all go search for it together? Evidently the beautiful symphony grew and grew inside her ears and head that she did not even notice Flower and Cassidy suddenly become distracted by a group of carolers singing Angels We Have Heard On High in which a delighted crowd gathered around to listen and sometimes pitched coins into the can._

"_I'll follow the other music," she decided, shrugging. "Once I'm done, I'll be back here. This shouldn't take too long."_

_Following the noise across the street, Julia stood before a building made fancifully of wood and canvas, and painted in silver and gold colors. What Julia didn't know was that this was the onstage theatre house. A few posters hung on the wall labeling different titles of plays and operas that Julia was unable to read._

"_It must be in here," she said with excitement. "If I could read, I'd know what it was. But I wonder who's playin' the music." _

_As she was up the steps, something stopped her as if she were pulled back by rope. It was like a voice speaking up in her mind not to go in and instead go back to her friends. Yet Julia, who was in fever of curiosity, lost all control of herself and entered without any shame. Exploring in this town was turning into a favorite activity in the outside world. And she couldn't resist the temptation to see what was inside the theatre._

_When she did enter, Julia found a crowd of silent folks gathered in the audience seats to watch a woman dress in a fancy pink ruffled outfit sing songs that made them smile, cheer, and clap at the end. Below the stage were several men in black suits fiddling with these large objects in their hands while the woman sang._

"_Aw, that must be the music down there," Julia whispered. "And that woman sings beautifully. Can't say she sings better than Susannah, but still is wonderful to hear. Now I'm wonderin' what's behind those curtains."_

_What Julia was unaware of was that no animals were allowed in the theatre, unless it was part of a stage performance for the show. And if anyone should spot her, she'd be thrown back out into the streets. Yet the audience, too enchanted by the woman's singing, did not take notice of her until she had walked all the way down the steps._

"_Hey there's a cow in the theatre," one man whispered. "And it's walkin' down the stairs."_

"_A cow inside the theatre?" another man spoke quietly._

"_And it's goin' backstage. We gotta tell someone before it ruins everything."_

_Being the curious and adventurous heifer that she was, Julia somehow found her way in the backstage engulfed by darkness. There she found numerous ropes scattered on the wooden stage, tied around contraptions, and restraining something from above the ceiling._

"_Wow, what are all these ropes for?" Julia bit at them with her teeth, unable to break them. "Yuck, that tastes awful." _

_She stuck her tongue out in disgust at the dirty taste. Turning away from the ropes, Julia turned to the curtains on her right and heard the same beautiful singing coming behind there. Moving toward step by step with the floorboards beneath her creaking, the curious heifer didn't even notice six men in black suits sneak quietly behind hoping to get her off the backstage and drag her out without hopefully ruining the performance. Pushing her face against the soft velvety curtains, Julia couldn't help but take a liking to the softness touching her. Then unexpectedly, she poked her head out from the curtains and spotted the same singer unaware of her presence in the theatre. Other folks in the audience were now becoming aware of a movement swaying against the material and a large animal poke its head out. Most rich folks who have been in this world longer than Julia knew that sneaking off behind backstage during performances were a rather rude manner for respectable singers and the audience. And none of them were pleased with what they saw._

"_There's a cow behind the curtains!" a curly haired woman in the audience screamed and pointed at Julia._

"_Someone get that cow outta here!"_

_This outburst interruption caused the singer to cease singing and glance over her shoulder. Believing that this animal was preparing to charge at her, she hollered at the top of her lungs._

"_Get away from me!" she wailed, flinging her arms at the approaching heifer. "Somebody get this creature off the stage. She's ruining my performance, help!"_

_Taken aback, Julia turned to leave the stage, but was surprised to find the six men in black suits come at her with angry glares on their faces. When one of them jumped at her, she leaped into the curtains and suddenly got her ankle caught in one of the ropes. Tripping, the force of the tug caused the rope to unravel and drop the whole curtains on the group of men. By now the angry audience posed as a sign of trouble for her. With so many attempting to capture her, Julia kept on dodging and leaping out of the way through to make it back the way she came in. It was hard avoiding them though. Soon a fight erupted on who was going to catch her first. Panicked, Julia ran for her life._


	12. Finding Shelter

**Chapter 12: Finding Shelter**

"_Ding Dong Merrily on High!" the carolers sang merrily. The delighted crowd kept on giving a few more coins in the can as a token of appreciation._

_Flower and Cassidy had been standing amongst the gathered crowd for almost thirty minutes enjoying the entertainment of caroling. Only then did Cassidy notice and hear a riot coming from the other far side of the streets in one of the buildings. Turning her head in that direction, she took notice of Julia running out in haste as if something were chasing her. To her guess, she was right. Their friend was being followed by a mob of wealthy men demanding for her to come back._

"_Flower!" Cassidy tapped on Flower's head vigorously. "Julia seems to have attracted the attention o' a dozen rich men behind her."_

"_Rich men?" Flower turned and realized what Cassidy meant. "Uh-oh, looks like it's our time to hit the road again."_

_With Julia passing her friends, both girls dashed after her as the mob kept on giving chase. With not enough time to ask her what happened, the girls managed to jump over a few barrels and dodge other citizens without knocking them over. The mob kept on coming like a stampede of wild mustangs. During the riot in the theatre, a guest man who was a worker at a meat market announced that the cow was an escapee and would offer a huge reward for the man who catches her first. Nobody cared if the offer was nothing but a con as long as they got the money. Of course in this case, the con man only wanted the interrupting cow captured and never planned to pay that person._

_After a race down the end of town, the trios were able to run faster than the mob. At the last minute, Cassidy shouted for them to hide behind the pile of barrels._

"_Quick get behind here!" she said urgently, tugging on Julia's ear with her teeth lightly._

"_Ouch!" Julia whined, but did not resist._

_The girls leaped out of the streets, barely missing the sight of the mob. Watching from their hiding spot, the stampede of rich folks charged across the streets still thinking that the girls were dashing off in a straight line without twists and turns. If any of them were any smarter, they would have paid closer attention to the footprints in the snow that turned to the pile of barrels. But the mob, too desperate on collecting the reward, did not bother to think of that. And by luck, it was a good thing that they didn't; otherwise the girls would not have been able to make their getaway. For five minutes, the girls waited a little longer until they were certain that the mob gave up their chase._

"_Come on, I think we lost them," Cassidy finally whispered._

_Feeling convinced that the roads were clear of rich folks, the girls hitched the road once again leading out of Wheelbarrow Town. They hated to leave after having so much fun learning about Christmas shopping and caroling, yet nothing lasts forever. And as much as Julia wanted to get to know the doctor better, he was a busy man and had not much time to chat with someone while dealing with patients. Then the girls turned to Julia, not forgetting about the incident back in town. Because the two were a few years older than her, Flower thought it necessary to be a little firm with her if she ever did something that she was not supposed to. She hated to be harsh, but it was for her own good. _

"_Alright, what've yah been up to young lady!" Flower pressed down on Julia's tail to stop her from walking. "Kindly explain why that mob chased after you like that."_

"_Uh…well I…" Julia didn't know where to begin, noticing how stern Flower looked. Had she really done something to upset her friends? _

"_I may not be your real Ma to be honest, but rules n' responsibilities are made by parents for a good reason," Flower tested Julia for an answer. "Why'd yah think I suggested we stick together?"_

"_So…that one of us don't go wanderin' off where we should be?" Julia asked to see if it was true._

"_That's right!" Flower's voice sounded high with anger and disappointment at what Julia could have caused. "It's a good idea me n' Cassidy tagged along. Otherwise you'd be in the worse amount o' trouble with who-knows-what-else. I often heard that a boomtown can be a dangerous place to be, even for the smartest cowpoke. He could encounter a robber or a pickpocket under his nose; the same as stayin' on the side o' the street from an oncomin' wagon."_

_Julia looked down at the floor, not believing how Flower was acting toward her. But then again, it seemed she was right about what she said. From what happened back there, the town was a dangerous place to be when you're not extra careful. Deep down, she felt she should've gone back to rejoin her friends when curiosity was getting the best of her. And look what it nearly caused. While Flower wasn't her mother, she and Cassidy were the closest ones she had at this point for both protection and learning what it takes to survive. Perhaps it was best not to argue and admit that she learned from this mistake._

"_I'm sorry I almost got us in a heck o' trouble."_

_She listened for Flower to respond with another angry comment, but instead her reply became calm and gentle as she continued._

"_I know yah are, and let me assure you that the fault was not entirely yours."_

"_It isn't?"_

"_No, in fact we never noticed you was missin' until Cassidy tapped my shoulder the moment she saw yah comin' down the streets," Flower mentioned veraciously. "Therefore it was also our fault for not payin' close attention while watchin' the carolers. It may be nice for all o' us to have a good time once in a while, but that don't mean we shouldn't be lookin' out for each other. That's what my Ma taught me one spring before. For me, I learn that part o' growin' up means takin' responsibility for my own actions."_

"_I think I understand Flower," Julia said, trying not to cry. It wasn't because Flower snapped, but she did after all feel ashamed to run off without them knowing and causing a riot in the theatre. "I won't run off again. You're actually right bout stickin' together. But when I saw the both o' yah comin' after me at the hills, I didn't wanna cause the both o' yah harm if I should ever fall into danger."_

"_Julia, we all make mistakes in life," Cassidy finally said. All this time, she didn't want to interfere with Flower's lecturing knowing that she herself was not that experienced with motherly advice. "And we learn from them so we don't wind up makin' the same one over n' over. Now cheer up. Remember, it was our fault too. But the important thing is that you're alright and we're safe…for now."_

"_She's right," Flower said, giving a small smile. Her disappointment had disappeared. "If I ever disobeyed my Ma, she'd give me a good talking to. Her words stuck on to me so I'd learn not to disappoint her like that again. She did it because she loved me."_

"_When my master punished me, he didn't love me," Julia replied darkly._

"_That's a different case Julia. Folks like him and Mr. Finch only think bout themselves so there ain't never any room for regret o' their actions. Hittin' yah didn't teach anything, except to be afraid o' humans. Were all humans like that? The only way to find out was when we suggest you see the doctor. And he turned out to be good. The same goes for that other man who visited."_

"_I never thought of it that way," Julia droned. When she was a calf, she was taught by Susannah to be good and obey the master, even if he wasn't kind. Susannah might have mentioned not to disobey when it came to following safety rules, but she only knew the rules from inside the barn. This was a new experience for her now; learning to survive in the outside world without a cruel master. "I only understood the rules o' not to disobey Mr. Finch or do anything to anger him."_

"_Well why don't we just forget bout what happened and continue on our way," suggested Cassidy. "If we don't, those rich folks might be back any minute."_

"_Good point Cassidy," agreed Flower. "Let's see what else is out there."_

_With the discussion straightened out, the girls continued on their way to the road leading out of town. During the first few minutes of walking, Flower explained to Julia that she sounded harsh while scolding because she was worried Julia might have been in real danger when she saw her running for her life. And sometimes when the youngest one in the group disobeys or does something hurtful to others, that's when the guardian has to be firm with him or her. If not, the child could grow up thinking it's alright. It even helped Julia to understand that the way most loving parents punish their children for wrongdoing is different from how Mr. Hanks punished her for the stupidest things. It made her heart ache to think of what her action caused back in town, but she felt better after her friends forgave her. What truly mattered is that she had learned from this mistake, and promised she would try not to let curiosity take control of her next time. Trust is one thing friends depend on each other. And Julia wanted to earn her friends' trust at all times._

* * *

_Later that night_

_When the sky turned to a dark purplish grey that evening, the snow started to fall again. The girls wondered where they would sleep for the night. The cold wind whipped about them as they struggled to find shelter for warmth before the snow became worse. With the weight of snow caked on their backs like blankets, the snow in many ways was treacherous stuff in the frontier. It would fill the gullies from bank to bank which made it difficult to find grass to eat for the animals and hard to fish for some men. In this case, most humans would spend parts of the summer and fall to store up as much food for the oncoming winter ahead. If not, they would likely starve to death._

"_This snow is fr…freezing," Julia stuttered through gritted teeth. The air was sharp and stung her nostrils._

"_I know, but we'll find shelter soon," assured Flower. Staring at Cassidy, the Hereford hadn't said a single word during their travel. Her voice was too raw from the bitter cold to talk. "I think I see another neighborhood up ahead."_

_The girls saw that she was right. Soon afterward, they came upon a neighborhood of wooden and log houses with large woodsheds in the back yard. The lights inside the houses were likely candles or oil lamps. That meant people were home and awake. But soon the lights diminished, meaning the folks were possibly going to sleep._

"_Which house should we stay at?" Julia stammered, viewing the neighborhood through her half closed eyes, stung by snowflakes._

"_I don't like the idea o' tresspassin' on folks' property," admitted Flower. "But seein' that everyone's gone to sleep, it might be rude to knock on their door at this time. It's possible they might think we're one o' those pesky critters that amuse themselves by knockin' at their doors while they're sleepin' soundly." She was filled with doubt and worry at the thought of that. Seeing the doctor was one thing, but knocking on the doors in the neighborhood was a different idea to think about. What if the folks in this neighborhood weren't very friendly? "However, we still need to find shelter for tonight. Then by the time mornin' comes, we'll be on our way again before we're spotted."_

"_Well whatever the folks are like here, we can't stand in the road all night freezin' our hooves off," agreed Cassidy, shivering and stifling her snout. "And my nose is cold. I say we just sleep in one o' the shacks for tonight."_

_It was a risk the girls believed they needed to take. It was already too late to knock on the doors if the folks inside were asleep right away. And Flower still had her doubts if one of the humans might be those hunters who take pleasure in killing animals for sport. But what other choice did the girls have to make? Perhaps this was how loners learned to survive on their own._

_When the girls had gone from house to house with a large woodshed, to their misfortune, they were mostly locked. But when they had gone one more block down, one large shed behind a log house was left open as the doors swung from the cold wind blowing through. Walking behind the log house, Flower peeked inside and found the shed to be completely empty with no other cows or horses. Only a huge pile of straw sat on the ground._

"_Come on, it's open," she said with encouragement. "And there's straw for us to eat."_

_The girls went in and looked here, there, and everywhere, straw all around them; enough to last the entire season for eating and bedding. Flower closed the door and pushed a heavy barrel in front followed by another barrel to keep the wind out. Then she had Cassidy help her carry a large piece of sawn timber and use it as a sort of lock. The straw apparently tasted sweet and fresh, meaning that there could be folks still living in this house. But where were the animals? All that was in this shack were barrels, boxes of food, bags of coffee and potatoes, and farm tools. Other than what they found in here, the girls were too tired to care._

"_It seems all that snow made me tired quickly," Julia yawned, lying down on the warm hay. "Or maybe it's just me." She never got to finish, too overcome by fatigue as sleep overtook her. The same could be said for her two companions as they no longer had the strength to stand for tonight._

_All three of them fell asleep as if they had not slept for days. The many hours of marching down the road left them indeed exhausted. Rest was all they needed for now. If any of them ever knew how to make a fire, it would prove to be a stupid and dangerous idea to do it in a barn unless the straw caught on fire to later set the whole place up in flames. Julia trembled a little from the melting snow on her back. By staying close together with her friends, the chill decreased. This shelter was the best they could do to find warmth. It might not have been too much, but it was much better and safer than being back at Mr. Finch's ranch that's for sure._


	13. A New Home?

**Chapter 13: A New Home?**

_The next morning at the crack of dawn brought a surprise for the girls. Someone did indeed live where they had snuck in. The shed had a back door which unlocked and in came a farmer with brown hair, a white wool shirt, dark blue overalls, and black boots. He had come in to gather food for the animals in his other barn and stared down in surprise to find three bovines asleep in here. He wasn't exactly pleased to see them, but he certainly wasn't angry about it either. If the girls had been human, that would be another matter. Most humans who snuck in like this were mostly bandits or robbers coming to steal whatever good quality items decent folk were keeping in their sheds. And it was a cautious and decent idea for townsfolk to keep their money at the bank so that hopefully robbers won't sneak into their houses and take it. But if bandits ever choose to rob the bank instead, that would mean major trouble._

"_Hey Carol, look what I found in here!" The farmer called in his wife._

_The shouting had awakened the girls, who looked at the man in alarm to find that they had been discovered._

"_What is it Matthew?" a womanly voice spoke. In came a woman in her thirties wearing a pinkish wool shawl over her shoulders and wearing a long grey skirt that went down to her ankles. "What'd yah wanna show me in here?" He pointed at the girls to answer her question. She sounded surprised as he did. "Oh, so that's what's been hidin' in our shed. Three cows on our property? Heck, they must be purty smart to keep the doors closed. But what're they doin' here?"_

"_I don't know Carol," Matthew, the farmer shrugged. "But they don't got a brand mark or bell round their necks. Maybe they was lost n' abandoned out in the snow. Don't know who'd do that but how much space do we have in the barn?"_

"_I think we got three stalls available," Carol answered. "Want me to bring them in there?"_

_Matthew nodded. "Yes, do that. If these girls ever want a place to stay, it has to be in the barn. This is a shed where we keep the farm tools safe. That goes for the food."_

_The girls were surprised again by the farmer's reaction. When his voice had awakened them, they had expected him or his wife to chase them out in anger at finding them here without permission. But in truth, even if he hadn't been pleased with seeing them, he couldn't blame them for only wanting a place to stay safe from the harsh weather. Personally, if he were abandoned and left to fend for himself, he'd probably do the same thing; even if he had to steal a little food for survival. In most parts of town, no one would want to hire a loner for odd reasons._

"_Come on girls, we got a barn out back to put ya'll in," Carol said kindly to the girls as she pushed the barrels and timber aside to let them through. She picked up a bunch of hay and gestured the cows to follow her outside._

_As much as they were confused, Julia, Flower, and Cassidy decided to just follow this woman outside where she led them into a barn that was located on the left side behind the house. Inside were two sheep with two lambs, one goat, two horses, and a jersey cow with a calf sleeping. Maybe the man and his wife wanted to keep them here for a while until someone ever comes to their house to look for them. If that's what the couple was thinking, perhaps this could be their home for a while until they decide what to do if things change in this neighborhood. And they thought that they would have to leave._

"_In here girls," Carol opened the three empty stalls filled with hay. One by one, the girls went in them obediently without resistance. "I'll go n' get some water to fill your troughs." She left through the barn doors._

"_Where'd you girls come from?" a mother sheep asked out of curiosity. "Were yah lost?"_

"_Yeah, how'd the master know where to find yah?" the sun colored goat added. "I would've expected him to be furious if he found three trespassers sleepin' in the shed without an owner."_

"_But we didn't mean to trespass, honestly," Julia objected, hoping to convince them. "We were just tryin' to seek shelter from the blizzard. Yah see we're loners, and we were gonna leave in the mornin'. But then your master found us before we could do so."_

"_If I were you girls, I wouldn't think o' goin' out again in the same weather as yesterday," advised the goat. "It's mighty dangerous for us domestic animals. We could get lost or freeze to death. If the master plans to keep yah, it's best we stay indoors, unless he has a job for one of us."_

"_That's the same thing Flower n' Cassidy said to me when I was sold at the ranch they lived on," Julia said regretfully. "And my curiosity almost got us killed."_

"_Yah made a mistake sugar," Cassidy reminded, seeing the frown upon her face. "And you've learned from it. That's life for all o' us. Heck, there are some mistakes I made as a young calf, but I was never afraid to admit them. So don't you be afraid either." Then she turned to the barn animals to explain what happened. "We arrived in this neighborhood yesterday from a trip to Wheelbarrow Town. Some rich folks were chasin' off Julia and we left before anything else happened. Yah see Julia was hurt and she needed to see the doctor."_

"_THE DOCTOR?" everyone in the barn except the girls shouted altogether._

"_What, what's the matter with ya'll?" asked Flower in an offended tone. "Our friend needed help with her wounds to heal."_

"_Is she alright?" asked the mother sheep as if Julia were her child. "What happened?"_

_Before any of the girls could answer, Carol came walking back in with two buckets of fresh water. Pouring it in one by one, she smiled at the girls to give them a bit of news from what Matthew told her inside the house._

"_Good news you three, my husband Matthew says we'll keep yah until further notice. If someone out there is lookin' for yah, we'll let them know we gotcha," she informed, pouring in another quarter for Flower. "But if that someone never shows himself, we'll have no choice but to keep yah for a lifetime. And to think me n' Matthew thought yah might have been bandits sleepin' in our shed. They're bad news. But don't worry, we won't let anyone take yah." She stroked Julia's forehead pleasantly. "We make our money growin' and sellin' a couple fruits, vegetables, crops, wool, and sometimes sell an animal in the neighborhood."_

_Julia felt uneasy at what she said. But Carol wasn't finished talking as she kept stroking the heifer._

"_But we only sell'em to people we know and trust, so that they know how and when to take better care o' them. It might sound a bit silly to some folks but that's just us. We would never want anybody in this barn to be sold off to some stranger, unless they're kind and generous enough to be trusted. It's how we live, and how we are able to pay off our bills. I just hope we have enough for this winter." _

_Julia was beginning to understand what Carol meant. Even if they had to sell an animal or two for business reasons, it would be to someone they know who can take care of them. It seemed fair enough. The girls listened to Carol go on about how she, Matthew, and their daughter Emma gather lots of fish at the river and go hunting for deer to be stored in the smoke house. The meat her family relied on was mostly fish, deer, elk, chicken, duck, and sometimes ham. But she never mentioned beef to them. In truth, Matthew never butchered his cows for beef. The cows in this barn were kept until an old age or until a neighbor offers a trade. He always bought the ham or beef from a nearby market._

_Yet meat wasn't all the family ate. Their other diet relied on carrots, corn, potatoes, apples, beans, salads, cakes, and breads. And the cows' milk was used to churn butter and make cream, but never cheese. Some ingredient inside it made the family allergic to that stuff; especially their daughter Emma. She loved all animals, even the ones in the barn. But she understood why her family had to survive on a few bits of meat through the winter. Hunting and gathering food was a matter of survival, even for the Indian tribes throughout the west. But folks in this small town only took what they needed thankfully._

"_We don't know what you girls were doin' all alone out in the snow," Carol maintained, scratching Cassidy behind the ear. "But we didn't think you'd survive if we left the three o' you out there wanderin' alone. So Matthew thought we'd keep yah here if it's alright. No use travelin' in dangerous weather starvin' n' freezin' to death. Well I gotta go back in the house. There's some cookin' that needs to be done."_

_The moment Carol left the barn and closed the doors, the three girls had a discussion amongst themselves to decide what they think about this place._

"_What'd yah think Flower, should this be our new home?" Cassidy whispered to the Holstein thoughtfully. It wasn't that she didn't trust the couple here, but she was worried about what might happen if one of them had to be turned to meat. But then again, Carol sounded true to her word when she mentioned that Matthew only buys beef from another town. "Do yah think they'll let us stay?"_

"_This couple seems friendly enough," Flower assured. "And the man didn't throw us out into the blindin' snowstorm. I know it's only been a few minutes since we've been in here, but I say we stay as long as possible. And they have a daughter who loves animals, even if she has to eat meat to survive. But don't yah remember what she mentioned? The farmer here keeps his cows until an old age. Isn't that right Mrs. Sheep?" Flower glanced over Cassidy at the mother sheep._

"_He sure does miss," the mother sheep answered, smiling. "And please call me Bella. And this is Patch, my sister, and the children, Violet and Clover." She introduced the other adult sheep and the two lambs at her legs. "Say hello to the new members."_

_Hello there," the lambs greeted as politely as possible._

"_I'm Violet."_

"_I'm Clover."_

"_And that goat is Charles," Bella gestured her head over to the goat who had spoken to the girls._

"_Pleased to meet you," He bellowed._

"_And the horses are Benjamin and Twilight. And last but not least, Amelia and her calf Tony." She pointed out to the jersey and the sleeping calf. Amelia greeted them in a quiet manner so that her son would not be awakened and frightened. Then she explained that there were chickens that lived in a coop on the other side of the barn._

"_Our masters, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks are good hardworkin' folks," Amelia assured the newcomers. "I'm sure Emma will like you too. She helps her Ma and Pa in the barn and the kitchen each season."_

_Again the girls gathered around and spoke in hushed tones for fifteen long minutes. To the barn animals, it seemed like days. Charles was prepared to intervene, telling them to hurry it up. But the horse, Benjamin whispered to let the girls make their own choice and not decide for them. If the newcomers wanted to be on their way, then let it be. There must have been a good reason for them to do so. Finally the girls turned to the barn animals and declared that they would stay. Carol was right about the weather. Although they have gotten this far, perhaps it was best to stay somewhere where it was safe. And who knows? Maybe the girls have already found a new home here. Could their adventure in finding their place already be over? It would seem that way. Looking at their surroundings, the owners made them feel wanted and so did the animals. So it was decided that they would stay._

* * *

_And with the passing of six days before Christmas Eve, the girls have never felt happy and cozy with this new home of theirs. No one ever criticized Flower and Cassidy whenever the two discussed how dismal life up at Mr. Finch's ranch seemed to be with those who think you're crazy when it comes to expressing yourself about situations. But when Julia arrived, her story of life with Mr. Hanks touched them in every way, except the rude disgraceful horses. Julia had lived on their ranch for three days learning the ups and downs of life on a farm. In a way, Mr. Finch was right about one thing. She was never fit to be his working animal. It was the job of a horse or ox. Even if she was to pull that plow, the lack of exercise and improper care from living with Mr. Hanks had weakened her muscles. And since Julia's arrival, the girls had thought she would pull through and get used to the fact that she would never see her foster mother again. But the day after working out in the fields, Mr. Finch lost control of his patience which led the girls to attack him and help Julia escape._

_Even Julia had to admit that she loved it here with the friendly barn animals, especially Bella, Patch, Violet, and Clover. Being sheep, maybe they were not the smartest ones in the barn. But she loved their charm and kindness toward her. She didn't care if the sheep were smart or dumb. As long as the flocks made her feel wanted, that was all that mattered. The Brooks daughter, Emma had taken a liking to the runaway cows the moment her Pa told her about finding them in the shed. She helped clean their stalls, feed them, and clean Julia's hide from the scars that reopened. It astonished Julia to see the way Emma had been treating her kindly with a brushing on the back and scratch behind the ear while feeding her hay. And to think all this time she had thought all humans were bad. Now she found herself to be mistaken. The pigtailed and freckled face brown-haired girl would often come in the barn and check to see if the girls were ok, due to the heavy snowstorms. Her gentleness lightened Julia's mood whenever she felt sad. This is what life was like living in a house of love and caring. But sadly, it was too good to last._

_Times still had a way of bringing changes and unexpected twists and turns. On the night before Christmas Eve, a knock pounded at the door of the barn house repeatedly. Thinking it was one of the neighbors; Matthew got out of bed and went to check. Before he could look out back, flames had roared to life outside of the log house. And among the flames, the farmer could hear the cries of the barn animals._


	14. Lost in the Blizzard

**Chapter 14: Lost in the Blizzard**

"A Dozen masked men?" Grace gasped weakly. "Oh no, it can't be. And the girls were growing accustomed to their new life with the Brooks."

"I told yah this tale had a bit o' sadness in it," Lucky Jack reminded, without being annoyed at her interruption. Knowing that Grace can be a little sensitive to these kinds of situations, he forgave her. "The story ain't finished yet. And I still haven't told yah how Julia lost her way out in the cold."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Anyway, just when the girls thought that nothin' could spoil their happiness at their newfound home, an unexpected surprise awaited them once more. And believe it or not, life is full o' unexpected surprises."

* * *

_That night_

_Matthew stood helplessly as the flames blocked the back door. In a rush, he burst into his daughter's room to awaken her and run outside to the closest neighbor's house. Carol panicked as the fire was now entering the bedroom. Matthew pulled her up and told her to go outside with Emma. There was not enough time to bring buckets of water to extinguish the flames. The fire was growing too quickly. But Matthew wanted to help the barn animals before it was too late. Snatching a handgun from the wall, the farmer rushed out the back door and hid behind the shed to find a dozen men in black clothing break into the barn and stealing the cows, leaving the other animals behind. He thought he heard gunshots inside, meaning that they could have possibly killed some of the animals. And they're responsible for setting his house on fire._

_He witnessed the masked men come out of the barn leading the cows out with ropes around their necks, including Amelia's calf Tony. He was only an innocent baby, yet the bandits were taking him. By the time Matthew pulled the trigger on the man holding Tony, the calf kicked himself free and ran around the log house avoiding the fire. The farmer dodged oncoming bullets behind the shed and shot another bullet every second. In truth, Amelia had ordered for Tony to runaway and look for Carol and Emma wherever they may be. She didn't want these strange men laying a hand on her son and wanted him to be safe with their master. He was much too young to be experiencing this sort of catastrophe as she and the girls were about to go through. Her eyes filled with tears as she saw him run without any choice. Her only joy was that the bandits decided to just let him go, thinking the grown cows are more valuable than he is._

_Just when Matthew was about to pull the trigger again, a shot from the bandits' gun fired. And the next thing that happened, he was gone._

_The bandits got on their horses and started to ride out steadily with the four cows they had stolen. The girls didn't know what was happening, but they knew the fire and gunshots was not a good sign. The cows thought of making a run for it, but every time Julia turned to make a move, one rider would block her path to escape. At one point she thought that she and her friends could outsmart these men whenever possible. However, the bandits were always gathered around them to make sure they moved out on the snowy road. The girls felt sad and afraid, especially Julia and Amelia. Amelia who had never experienced this before was more frightened than the other three._

_Glancing over her shoulder at the burning house, Julia sadly followed alongside her companions, going where the bandits forced the cows to go. Emma and Carol were no where to be seen. Those two must have been sent to get help. She had hoped Tony found his way to them safely. Just like in the stories Julia heard, she and her friends were prisoners of the rustlers' ropes, coming to take her away from their new loving home. She couldn't believe how the robbery started back there. The barn animals were sleeping peacefully without a care. However, she had woken up from a nightmare about dying at the hands of Mr. Hanks. Soon afterward, the peace was interrupted and broken by the crashing of several men in dark clothing. Then somehow the men used these burning devices called revolvers to use on most of the barn animals when they were making a racket._

"_Where're these ruffians takin' us?" asked Julia, worried for Amelia who she noticed was limping on her right back leg._

"_I don't know Julia," whispered Flower. "But I have a feelin' it ain't pretty. Somehow we gotta break free o' these ropes n' escape."_

"_We will, but not right now," Cassidy added eagerly. "There're too many men watchin' us at this point. We'll need to wait for the right time."_

_By the time the flames devoured the house and barn, neighbors woke up to the smell of black smoke that engulfed parts of the neighborhood. Some barely bundled men ran through the snow in bare feet, hoping to check and see if the family was alright. The riders had successfully ridden out of sight before the neighbors could spot them from afar. Starting the fire had created a diversion for them to make their getaway._

* * *

_Train ride_

_The captured cows were forced to march through the blinding snowstorm all through the night without rest. Then by dawn, the group of bandits finally reached a train where other men waited. In this situation, Julia almost couldn't make sense of any of this. She had never laid eyes on a giant mechanical, smoking device before. But she did overhear one of the men call it a train. It puffed and snorted billows of steam and foul smoke that stung her nostrils._

_The worst part came when the men were not planning to put the girls in the same cart altogether for odd reasons. They were going to be separated. Flabbergasted, Julia fought the rope, but it did no good. If she couldn't be with her friends, then how would they plan their escape altogether?_

_Shoved inside a cart, Julia found that she was alone in the darkness inside this prison. She couldn't tell if it was still dark or already morning. It reminded her of the dreadful memories as a prisoner back on Mr. Hanks' ranch. All those times, she was never allowed out into the sunshine during the warm seasons, except when she was taken out back for an unjust punishment. Each time she heard his cruel, angry voice, part of her spirit seemed to fall apart. Julia remembered the first two winters where she felt safe and warm beside Susannah whenever Mr. Hanks let her be. Life over there felt boring and hopeless from never being let out. Now despite feeling happy and wanted on that small farm with the Brooks family, that happiness was shattered into a thousand pieces as she could feel her freedom being taken once again. Here she was in a dank, dark cart with no food to eat and no water to drink. She felt like a fool to get her hopes up._

_Julia sat down as the train began to roll forward. She wondered how Flower, Cassidy and Amelia were handling this while being in separate carts; probably as confused and frightened as she is. She couldn't blame them for that. For the past few days, she and her friends went on a journey into the unknown to escape the harsh realities of a pit hole. What if this was all her fault? Poor Julia couldn't help but feel responsible for dragging all her friends into trouble; all because she wanted to be somewhere else only to feel better about herself. And now here they were. Unexpectedly, tears slid down her cheeks and froze from the cold air._

_Through the slats, Julia watched the wind get stronger, driving the swirling snow in, stinging her eyes. It was lonely and frightening being in this stock cart by herself. Her only breath of air came through the slats. She couldn't even find her footing in the darkness. The steel floor was rough and bumpy._

"_Susannah," Julia whispered, covering her head between her front legs. "I miss you already." That was all she could think about. Of course, she also missed her friends._

_The train didn't travel too long though, just a couple of hours. But the trip was long enough for Julia to feel miserable and wonder if the bandits would ever allow her to be with her friends. Just like the long hours of marching in the snowstorm, there was nothing to eat or drink. And Julia's mouth was dry from thirst._

_Unbeknownst to Julia however, she was about to find out that she was never to see her friends ever. When the door to the stock cart opened, one man observed her condition and was not pleased with what he saw. He thought she was not fat or big enough to catch a good price at the slaughter house. With her trouble standing, he had chosen to do the most inhumane and thoughtless act. Put her out of her misery. His face full of hatred, he pointed it at her forehead with a click._

_Thinking quickly, Julia slid underneath the man and heaved him aside, causing him to drop the revolver without hurting anybody. Soon other men outside were struggling to catch her, but Julia dodged their moves and kicked and reared at any who tried to cause harm. She even felt satisfied when she heard a grunt and moan from the men. Now her next goal was to search which stock carts was holding her friends captive inside. She tried calling out their names, but most of the cattle inside were making too much noise that she couldn't make anything out. And to make matters worse, a group of more men was stampeding toward her for a recapture. Not knowing what else to do, Julia anxiously was determined to run away from them, but she never intended to give up on her friends. Too frightened to think, Julia didn't know how it happened. But the further she ran from the bandits, the more she was close to a steep snowy cliff. And the last thing she remembered after that was a slip and tumble down the bluff in a shower of snow._

* * *

_Somewhere in the forest_

_When morning dawned, a mysterious figure half buried in an inch of snow on top, stirred and moaned in pain. Soon the moaning was followed by a cough. Then a cows head popped out of the snow to stare at the surroundings. It was Julia, alive and well. Yet still in pain of that fall. Luckily no bones were broken and no serious life threatening injuries. All she received from slipping off the cliff were a few aches and pains in her sides. From what Julia remembered, she and her friends were captured on the Brooks' farm and rode on a train. And she tried to run and help her friends, but failed._

"_Oh no, I must've fallen off the cliff somehow," Julia said anxiously staring above the snow covered hills. These hills were apparently too steep and slippery for the heifer to make her way back up. And another problem was that she couldn't tell where her tracks or trail could be under the newly filled snow. "Where's the train? I know it was up there with…oh no, what happened to my friends?"_

_Julia dropped to the floor in despair and guilt. How could she have let her friends down by running away when their lives were in jeopardy?_

"_What've I done?" she sobbed. "I knew I shouldn't have taken them with me. And now they're gone for good."_

_For five minutes she sat in the snow lamenting. If only she could have been fast enough to help them, then her friends would be saved. The girls must think that she's a coward at this point; running away free while they were still trapped in the carts._

"_My friends must hate me right now," Julia sobbed some more. "I know it. I'm sorry Flower, Cassidy, and Amelia. Please forgive me."_

_The forest was unusually quiet with no one to heed her calls. It would be a bad idea to shout for her friends, knowing it would likely cause an avalanche. She had learned this from Benjamin and Twilight as they once explained the dangers of traveling in the snow. She had lost her friends forever on the train. Julia let out a sad sigh as she sat up from the snow sniffling. Her eyes had turned pink from crying._

"_Well, even if I lost my friends," she said to herself. "Somehow I get the feelin' that they wouldn't want me to quit right now. I shouldn't be cryin' for myself." She wiped her eyes, feeling confidence from all the advice she had been given since the days she was born. "I should be followin' the train. Only problem is I can't climb back up." Julia stared up at the hills again. "Flower and Cassidy were the ones who helped me because that's what friends do for each other. I gotta find try n' find them."_

_Julia finally stood up and walked along the bottom of the steep hills to follow the train. If any horse could do this, surely she could. She didn't know, but she had to try. Susannah once taught her that no one is a failure who keeps trying. Her friends helped her, now it was her turn to help them. Wherever they are, she was determined to follow the tracks of the train, even if it may take her whole life. It was either die a lost cow or die trying._

"_Hang on girls, I'm coming," Julia said bravely, treading over the deep snow. "I don't know how far ya'll may be, but I ain't gonna quit; at least not today."_

_Now she knew this mess wasn't her fault. How was she to know bandits were coming to take them away into an unknown destination? How did she know one of the men was about to pull the trigger on her before she escaped? And how could she have been able to unlock every single cart without a key in time? The truth was she couldn't have known. Bad things happen, just like making mistakes. In fact, she was feeling thankful with Flower for scolding her after escaping from the mob. Because how else was she know that you should never wander off by yourself in a town you've never visited before? She sounded harsh because she cared. Julia knew she wasn't a calf anymore, but that didn't mean she could do whatever she wanted without understanding the importance of staying together. As Julia marched forward with the snow crunching beneath her hooves, the clouds formed altogether which signaled the coming of another blizzard ahead. By the time dusk had come, snow fell like a salt shaker._

* * *

**AN**_:_ I have three more chapters to go to this story. Then I'll go back to writing Coal Mine Canyon and hopefully Captive in England. Been kind of busy with animation projects, but I am not animating anything at the moment. So I have more free time with writing and thinking of ideas.


	15. The Star of Guidance

**Chapter 15: The Star of Guidance**

_Indeed the night of Christmas Eve turned out to be cold and bright with stars as Julia kept marching. Because it was dark and a bit foggy, it was hard to tell if she was still following along the hills close to the tracks. As usual, snow covered everything in its never ending path. All through the morning and afternoon, Julia passed by flowing creeks, frozen ponds, dense trees, and climbed up hills that were not too difficult to walk upon. But to her misfortune, she did not see train tracks._

_To hopefully stay out of the bitter cold, Julia took cover under the shadow of a cliff, wondering which direction she should take. Perhaps she thought the animals of the forest could give her some helpful advice. They knew more about this forest since it is their natural habitat. Having been groomed recently by Emma, Julia's coat turned out to be shaggy and thick against the winter snow, but she still shivered anyway. Under the cover of this cliff, she decided to rest for a while before moving on. Otherwise her legs would tire out from exhaustion. How she wished for a human companion to build a fire and keep them both warm. No, she mustn't think of such things while feeling cold. It only makes the situation worse._

_Somehow she had fallen asleep under there. She opened her eyes to more snow falling thickly. Glittering flakes filled the air and drove into the shadow of the cliff. Julia knew this was a warning for her to rise up and start marching again. With the snow beating against her sides, she felt her time would be near its end if she didn't find somewhere else to look for warmth and safety. How could she hope for it in this forest of endless trees? Everywhere she looked, there were trees here and trees there. It was torture to be lost in this forest._

_When night fell, the snow clouds blew off, taking the falling snow with it. The sky grew clear once more revealing the stars twinkling; and a single star burning brightly on the western horizon. At least that's what Julia believed she saw, just like in the stories of the manger. Only she was close to assuming that it was too good to be true. It couldn't be the same star that guided the wise men to the manger. Any star could look like that. Doubtfully, she went on her way, passing three deer foraging at the forest. When she had asked them for directions, one of them advised for her to take the path pointing west. There she would surely find a train track or a neighborhood if that's what she was searching for. Julia had no other choice but to give it a try. Some risks needed to be taken, even if it meant saving her friends._

_Following this path, Julia suddenly became startled by what she believed to be gunshots in the distance behind her. This meant a hunter was out hunting and might mistake her for game. This gave her the determination to move faster and get out as soon as possible._

"_Great, just what I need," she said sourly. "Becomin' the hunted for a hunter. I can't let that happen."_

_The more she kept moving, the less she heard the gunshots until they were no longer present. It may have been a relief to her, but Julia suddenly thought of the fate of those deer that helped her. Glancing over her shoulder, she knew it was too late to turn back. She still had to find the way out. The wilderness was a dangerous place for a domestic animal like her to be traveling at. The forests of Wyoming were known to be inhabited by predators such as wolves, bears, and cougars. And their favorite dish was of course fresh meat. Now was the time to get moving._

_Reaching a clearer area with lesser trees, Julia could see the same bright star in the sky brighter than the others above the horizon. She stood with her feet in the snow trying to come up with a clever solution on where to go. Her only solution was to follow the star. If it was the star from the stories, surely it would lead her to where she needs to go. Marching onward, she saw no tracks in the snow as if this part of the forest was abandoned._

_But it seemed as if the star grew further and further with every step Julia took forward. Finally she could take no more and slumped onto the snowy ground. Her legs were too tired from the hours of walking and she was left panting. She could feel her eyes closing by themselves as if she were under a trance. Staring up at the sky, dark clouds rolled by, blocking its light._

"_I knew that star was just like the rest o' them," Julia said softly, tears of hopelessness filling her eyes. "All this time, I tell myself to be brave and not to lose hope o' seeing my friends again. But in these woods, it feels so hopeless. Not even the forest animals can help me." The tears rolled down her cheeks. "I don't wanna cry, but I can't help it. What if they're so far away where I'll never reach them in time?" her shoulders shuffled as she buried her face sobbing with grief._

_What was the point in being brave? Who was she kidding? She was nothing more than a simple cow filled with silly dreams that will never come true. Not even a cowboy could find his way home in a thick forest such as this. She might as well lie down in the snow waiting for the cold to take her away to the next life. Everyone she loved had disappeared from her forever. Julia shivered, thinking back to when she was a calf. Susannah was always there for her, even after when Mr. Hanks cruelly whipped her in the woodshed. After that experience, she knew better than to rebel or lash out at him. Julia's tears fell faster at that memory. Thinking of Susannah made her heart ache with a desire to be with her, even if it was just this once. To hear the voice of her foster mother was filled with so many memories past and present. Why won't it stop hurting?_

"_Maybe its better this way," she wept her eyes pink and cold from the wind. "Maybe I was never meant to be with a family of my own. Or better yet, maybe I was not meant to be loved."_

_Julia cried harder, lamenting the loss of her friends and all the love from the Brooks farm. Most of all, she mourned the tragic loss of the animals she had made friends with back there. None of them deserved what happened by those guns. She had also witness the bullet hit Mr. Brooks as he fell. And she wished that she had stayed longer to know the Brooks family a whole lot better, especially Emma. It wasn't fair._

"_I'm sorry friends," Julia cried, sniffling. "I tried."_

_Sadly, poor Julia could only cry herself to sleep. Unfortunately, it was difficult to sleep in this cold weather when her heart was aching. If only she hadn't rebelled at Mr. Finch's commands. Then she wouldn't be out here freezing. All hope of having a family and being with friends had gone completely. Today and tomorrow and the days after that would be nothing but emptiness, lament, despair, and guilt. Nothing out here could save her from the bitter cold. How could she go on her own?_

"_Why do you cry little one?"_

_By hearing a kind voice speak, Julia stopped crying and lifted her head to see that a large brown animal with big antlers stared down at her. He looked similar to a deer, except much larger with a broad chest, slender neck, and was strikingly handsome. Julia did not recall seeing a deer with antlers back in the forest. For some reason, this one seemed different. His expression resembled kindness toward her and his face seemed long. Somehow he must have heard her cries._

"_What are you?" Julia asked weakly, her face already tearstained. She had no more tears to shed. She was all cried out._

"_I am a reindeer of this forest," the creature answered in a wise tone. "And I have heard what I believed to be your cries. But tell me, why were you crying?"_

"_I'm lost sir," Julia answered, not knowing what else to think. But she felt that she had to tell him the truth if he was here to help her. "Yah see I was never happy at my old home at this farm called the Horse Shoe Ranch. And I desired to know what was out in the world I was forbidden to step out of. Soon I was sold to another horrible man who I hated more than Mr. Hanks. But I had met two kind bovines who taught me the facts o' farm life and a holiday called Christmas. When the owner o' that ranch hit me, my friends held him back so I could escape. Then they joined up with me on my journey into the unknown. We managed to pull through a few twists and turns durin' our visit in a town. And we fought through the snow to seek shelter in a woodshed where the Brooks family took us into their home. I thought we had finally found a home, but we were captured by bandits in the night."_

_The reindeer listened as Julia concluded her story where she escaped from the train out of fear of dying by the bullet and was unable to save her friends._

"_Now I can't find my way out and I'm afraid I'll never see my friends again," Julia found she had more tears after all. "I wish I could've been faster. Now how can I live with myself?" Choked sobs escaped her and she could no longer talk._

"_Little one," the reindeer nuzzled her forehead gently. "It's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for. No one could have predicted that those bandits would come. There was nothing you could have done to help the others. You and your friends have done everything they could to come so far. Don't you see, it was faith, courage, and hope that stayed with you all through the journey. While you were living under an unkind household, your foster mother reminded you not to become so hateful. Hate poisons the mind and soul if you allow it to fill your heart with no room for love. It turns you into something you don't truly wish to be. She needed you to be strong with love and faith, not hate for humans. It's never easy to begin with, but sometimes it's the only way."_

"_I miss her so much," Julia sobbed, a lump in her throat. "What will I do?"_

"_I know you miss her. And I'm sure she misses you as well. But even when you're apart from someone you love, they're never truly gone as long as you remember them. They live on in your heart. From there, your foster mother will never leave you. Neither will your friends. Therefore, you are never alone."_

_He allowed Julia to cry the last of her tears so that she would be able to listen. It was never good for anyone to hold their pain inside. It needed to be let out. His words appeared to have brought Julia to her senses as her tears grew softer and was able to wipe her eyes with determination. She pulled in a long breath as her heart lifted._

"_It's alright little one," the reindeer assured. "Take as much time as you need to let out the hurt inside. It's alright to hurt once in a while. But never forget the love you experienced from your friends. Don't think of this situation as an end, but think of it as a new beginning. And I am going to lead you there."_

_Julia looked up at him astonished. "But what do you mean?"_

"_Just follow the brightest star in the sky," he answered before galloping near a clear open path located in which the clouds disappeared to reveal the star shining brightly than ever. "And don't stop until you see its shine down below. Come, I'll show you the way."_

"_Wait, there's so much I wanted to ask first!" Julia shouted, but saw that he was gone. Instead of crying, she found the strength to stand and to do as the reindeer advised. And that was to follow the star. "I gotta follow that star."_

_Without delaying an instant, she began to dash forward on the path as if someone were chasing after her. If what the reindeer said was true, this star may be her only hope to get out of this forest. It was a long path, but Julia refused to give up. Her friends may not be with her anymore. But the one place they would never leave was in her heart. Maybe this was her next chance to be brave so that one day, she would find them again. It's what her friends would have wanted her to do. All Julia wanted now was to get out of the forest and go to wherever the road may take her. Whether it meant reaching a town or neighborhood, she didn't care. She knew her friends were smart enough to find a way to escape from the bandits and take cover as a way of outsmarting them._

"_Flower n' Cassidy would want me to go on," she panted, still running. "I sure hope Amelia's alright. It must be hard for her to lose Tony."_

_At last, after a desperate race of nearly two hours, she arrived quite breathless to find that she saw a large log house and a red barn house lying in the snow at the end of the open field. By the log house stood a windmill. And that was where the light from the star gleamed like silver on the both of them. Unless she was ever mistaken, this must be where her journey from the forest ends. But what was inside the log house? To find out, Julia decided to investigate in the barn._

"_This is as far as I can lead you little one," the voice of the reindeer spoke behind her. "From here you are on your own. In that house lives a family with two daughters who are kind and caring. They will take care of you as your foster mother did."_

"_But what about my friends?" Julia asked in surprise. This wasn't exactly what she had in mind. She was almost hoping to find the train tracks._

"_If I should ever encounter more loners in the forest, I will do what I can to lead them to safety," the reindeer promised. "But for now, go. The family is expecting company." The reindeer once again disappeared in the midst of the woods._

_Shrugging her shoulders, Julia walked through the back fence surrounding the red barn and pushed the door with her nose. Inside she could smell the odor of warmth and hay. And she listened closely for the sounds of animals breathing as they slept._

"_Here goes nothing," Julia whispered, taking a deep breath and entering. "Since they're asleep, maybe they won't mind me spendin' the night here."_

_Again, she wasn't comfortable with the idea of trespassing, but she was tired and cold. One question kept ringing through her mind as she laid herself on top of the warm fresh hay in an empty stable. How did the reindeer know that this was where she needed to be? And how would staying with the family on this farm help find out where her friends are? Maybe whatever reasons the reindeer had must have been his own. Or maybe he already knew something about this farm that was waiting for her. But most of all, what did he mean the family is expecting company?_

_Although her mind was filled with questions, Julia blinked wearily and closed her eyes, succumbing to sleep. The warmth of the hay was enough to help her rest. In her dreams, she dreamt of being close to Susannah, saying she would always be with her._


	16. Christmas with the Andrews

**Chapter 16: Christmas with the Andrews**

"_Ted, Ted wake up. I thought I heard the gates swingin' outside."_

"_The gates? Hang on darlin', I'll go check."_

_Inside a bedroom, a man wearing a white nightgown pulled the covers off him and stepped out of bed to investigate the opened gate. Thinking he accidentally left them open allowing trespassers to enter, he grabbed his Winchester off the shelf above the chimney, put on his boots, and went outside to check on the animals in the barn._

_The sign of gates swinging outside was not a good thing. Any criminal or dangerous wild animal would get in and cause huge amounts of trouble._

_Pushing the open barn door slowly and holding his Winchester firmly, the man stepped softly to not awaken the barn animals. And he did indeed spot something in the hay. But it wasn't a robber or a predator._

_It was the figure of a sleeping cream colored coated bovine. On the hay, she slept curled up like a ball, shivering a bit as if she had been out for a long time in the snow. Only one silver horse was awake staring down at the outsider in confusion._

"_Well what'd yah know," the man whispered, laying down his weapon and smiling in relief. "That's no robber. It's only a young cow. But I wonder where she came from."_

_He left the barn for several seconds and came back in with a wooly blanket to place over her cold body. The young cow was too dead tired to feel the man approaching her and soothing her neck._

"_Poor thing; she must've been lost out in the cold without an owner. She seems awfully familiar to that other cow in the doctor's shed."_

_To make sure, the man checked areas around the sleeping cows hide and thought he felt old cuts underneath the hairs. To his surprise, it was the same cow he saw back in town._

"_It is her. But how'd she find her way here?" Why else would this young one be traveling alone was beyond his understanding. Whatever happened, he was not planning to throw her out in the snow just like that. Since tonight was Christmas Eve, he would let her stay in here and sleep._

"_Since our other cow Rose died of old age three days ago, maybe Emily will grow fond of this one, hopefully."_

_He quietly sneaked out the doors and closed them tight. To send her out into the cold weather on the holiest night would prove to be an unjustly act, especially for a lost cow._

* * *

_It was morning when Julia awoke inside the barn. For a minute she forgot where she was, and then she remembered when she looked at her surroundings. Julia glanced over her shoulder to find that a blanket had been placed over her back. She did not recall that being there, but Julia was now curious to know if the owners of this house already knew of her presence. Where could her friends have gone?_

"_I found her in the barn," a manly voice spoke from outside the barn doors. Before Julia knew it, the doors threw open as a familiar face stood outside in winter garments with a blond haired woman in a blue and white checkered dress. Around her shoulders she wore a grayish wool shawl. Even with her tired eyes gazing at him, Julia had no idea that this was the same clean shaved brown haired man whom had watched over her in Wheelbarrow Town due to the fact that she was not allowed to move a muscle. While the doctor tended to her wounds, she was unable to turn her head and see his face. But there he was standing with his wife and two girls in white nightgowns, warm shawls and little brown boots. One was tall with long blond hair and blue eyes. And the other was short with reddish brown hair, freckles, and hazel eyes._

"_So this is the little trespasser Ted?" the man's wife said in a playful tone, smiling. She was relieved to find that the animals in the red barn were safe from harm. "How'd yah think she got lost out in the woods?"_

"_Don't know," replied Ted. "But I just couldn't throw her out in the snow. I could be wrong, but I think she's the same cow treated by Dr. Rogers for her scars."_

"_Who would do that to her?" the wife asked, shocked to hear that anyone would horribly mistreat their animals like that. "That's terrible."_

"_I know Bethany. But whoever she once belonged to, we're not sendin' her back to that kind o' life. If we keep her, she'll be safe from harm. Whether or not she gives a calf, we'll still have plenty o' milk from our other cows." He turned to his older daughter with the blond hair. "Kim, think you can go fetch a brush and some wet towels to clean our newest member of the family?"_

"_Sure thing Pa," Kim said proudly, running back into the log house._

_Julia was astonished by what Ted mentioned about seeing the doctor treat a cow with injuries and realized that this must have been the other man asked by the doctor to watch over her. And here she was in his barn of four horses, two cows each with a calf, and two oxen. All the animals in the stables had friendly faces as they watched Bethany come forward to comfort the newcomer with a scratch behind the ear._

_The smallest child could only stare at Julia with sadness in her eyes. The other cow that used to sleep in that stable passed away due to old age. And it made her sad because she had grown attached to her._

"_Emily, I know how yah feel bout Rose," Ted looked down at his daughter and spoke with gentleness. "We all miss her. But remember, she was old and it was just her time. We all have a lifetime. Besides Rose lived a good happy life on this farm, and now she's somewhere safe in the afterlife where she will live on in happiness. She'll be in our hearts forever."_

"_Does the Lord look after her?" Emily asked in a sweetened voice with sadness in it._

"_I'm sure He does," Ted assured, hugging his daughter for comfort. "The Lord loves all creatures. For now, it seems this cow needs the same love n' care as we had given Rose. Why don't you go to her? And don't be sad, it's Christmas Day."_

_The little red haired child dashed over to Julia and threw her arms around her neck lovingly. Although she was a bit too young to understand about death, she couldn't help but have the urge to hug this cow. Her Pa mentioned that no other cow will ever take Rose's place. And there will always be a place in her heart for Rose. Emily loved cows, especially the calves. She loved the horses too, but not as much as the cows. And the young child desperately thought that if she ever loved another cow again, she would hurt all over if she were to lose that one. Luckily she remembered some of the advice her Pa gave about a cow's lifespan. Even though their bodies may be gone, their souls will never die. The important thing was to live life as best as possible until our time is up._

"_Can we keep her Pa?" Emily asked, still hugging Julia around the neck. "I don't want her to go."_

"_Don't worry Emily," Ted reassured more kindly. "I think this cow will have a long life ahead o' her. We'll let her stay until an old age. Till then, I'd say she's in need o' food so I'll go n' fetch some ground corn n' grain."_

_He left the barn doors and came back with two tin buckets of ground corn and grain that made Julia's mouth salivate with hunger. Leaving his wife Bethany and daughter Emily to take care of her, he decided to go out hunting and bring back meat for Christmas dinner. Like most hunters on the frontier, he was one who only took what he needed to feed his family and never over hunted or killed for sport. He had hoped to find a wild turkey or wild pig._

_Kim came walking back in with a brush and a few towels to clean Julia's coat. Then she left to set the table. The entire family had already opened their simple gifts of candy, cakes, warm clothes, and one doll each for the two girls. And Ted wanted to surprise his family with what he found in the barn._

_Julia was able to lick off the delicious ground corn piled in Emily's hands as Bethany scrubbed her upper and lower back. She had never tasted anything so good and tempting. The youngest daughter's hugs warmed her heart and body like a campfire in the coldest night. No other human had ever loved her like this, except maybe Emma who had stroked her nose and hugged her face while soothing it. She missed Emma, but there was no point in going back. Even if she wanted to, the journey would prove too difficult to handle. Hopefully Emma was alright with Carol and Tony. It seemed her new home was here with the Andrews family. As much as she wanted to see her friends again, Julia retained the memory of the reindeer saying that if he should ever encounter more loners in the woods, he would lead them to safety. He must have known more about the forest than she did since he was part of it. This was where she needed to be. And Julia had to admit that she felt safer in this barn than she did in the wilderness. But it turned out to be quite an adventure she'll never forget. Her adventures helped her to escape from the cruel life of being a working animal. That was no life for her._

"_There used to be another cow that lived in this farm," Emily said to Julia in a cute voice. "Her name was Rose, but she died and is safe in a beautiful place where all critters go when they pass on. Pa says I'm too young to understand and says he'll tell me more when I'm older."_

_Julia gave the girl a tender lick on the cheek to show her that she was just as friendly and kind as their old cow used to be. Emily giggled and hugged her face tenderly. This was already feeling like a Merry Christmas after all. To her, finding Julia in the barn was a great gift. Julia was taking a liking to Emily and Bethany. It didn't take her long to realize that not all humans were cruel and unkind. She had been led to the right farm with a family who was here to help, not hurt her. She reckoned that she was going to like living here. That is, if the animals in this barn think its okay._

"_There, I think she's clean enough," Bethany said, patting Julia on the back. "What should we name her? Sally, Posy, Juliet…?"_

"_Julia?" Emily suggested._

"_Julia it is, now why don't we leave her here a while to get acquainted with her new stable partners?"_

"_Bye Julia," Emily waved, following her mother outside and closing the barn doors._

_Finding that she was alone for a while, Julia stared at the two cows to her right and three horses to her left. Only three stables in this barn were empty and she wondered who used to live in them. She gulped when she saw their curious faces staring at her. Julia hoped that these animals were not unfriendly or resentful of an outsider just like the two horses at Mr. Finch's ranch._

"_Howdy there newcomer," a brown cow greeted, peering over her stall. "Did yah come here all by yourself?"_

"_Um, yes I have," Julia was a bit nervous. "It's a long story actually. I was lost in the woods last night."_

"_Why don't yah tell us all bout it?" the other cow spoke. Its coat was a thick light brownish color with white spots of different sizes all over. "For us it's been kind o' hard to lose Rose, but you're welcome here anyhow. I'm Charlotte by the way." She pointed her head to the brown bovine next to her. "And this is Paige. Her calf is Cinnamon and mine here is named Lily." The two calves greeted Julia with a friendly hello just as their mothers had taught them to do when meeting a new member of the family._

"_Howdy there little ones," was all Julia could say with a small smile. "Do ya'll like livin' here with this family? I don't wanna offend anybody here, but are they good honest folks?" She had asked this question to know more._

"_Of course they are silly," answered Charlotte, not feeling the least bit offended. "You'll love the Andrews family. They feed us, take care of us, clean our stables, and let us go outside in the warm weather. Me n' Paige here provide fresh milk for the family to drink and make butter. But our calves are still able to get enough to grow up strong n' healthy. And the boys over there help out Mr. Andrews by workin' out in the fields and takin' him to town."_

"_It's a dirty borin' job plowin' the fields but someone's gotta do it," a silver horse admitted. "My names Phil." The other three horses introduced themselves as Chuck, Harold, and Copper. Chuck was sand colored with four white stockings. Harold was bronze colored with a white blaze on his nose. Copper had of course a copper colored coat with only one white stocking on his front left leg. "I don't think yah have to worry bout workin' like us to please the masters, little lady. It's mostly our job and the ox's to tell yah the truth. A cow's job is to watch over the herd at all times and make sure the young ones never jump over the fence."_

"_Thank goodness," Julia breathed a sigh of relief. "You'll never believe what happened to me and my friends as we ran away from our old home."_

_The cows and horses gasped as Julia carefully explained growing up and spending her first two years on the Horse Shoe Ranch owned by the unkind Mr. Hanks. Everyone gasped more when she showed them her scars created from the whip. Paige and Charlotte guaranteed that as long as she stayed on this farm, no harm like the ones she went through would ever happen again. No one in the barn could promise anything, but the advice was convincing enough to take. Right now, Julia only wanted to stay where she was warm not only by the straw, but by the gentleness of everyone's love. There had certainly been great joy on this farm when she told them of her escape from Mr. Finch and visit to Wheelbarrow Town. Ted had arrive back an hour later bringing home a fat turkey to feed the family. And by evening, Bethany had prepared a tremendous feast inside the house, serving steaming bowls of soup and making sure everyone's plate was full of potatoes, corn, peas, and turkey. For desert, there would be apple pie. Because Julia had spent her time inside going on with her story, none of the animals in the barn could hear the family singing the sweet sound of Christmas carols. As her story was finished, Phil volunteered to tell the next story of where Christmas gifts come from on Christmas Eve night. Julia listened, growing fond of her new family as if she had lived here all her life. Most of all, this would be her first Christmas with a real loving family._


	17. Reunited and a New Beginning

**Chapter 17: Reunited and a New Beginning**

_As Julia awoke the next morning on the day after Christmas, she thought she heard voices outside the barn. But she assumed it was only something in her tired mind and went back to sleep. The heifer learned from her foster mother that dreams were known to sometimes play tricks on you and make you see or hear things that aren't really there to begin with. She was thankful that this barn had strong walls to keep out the cold air and feel safe from wild animals. What more could she ask for?_

"_Come on in girls, there's plenty o' room in the barn."_

_Julia's back was turned from the opening barn doors as she went on sleeping peacefully. So she did not notice Ted allow what appeared to be three mysterious cows into the barn and led them to the three empty stalls._

"_By God, where do all these lost cows keep comin' from?" He muttered under his breath, closing the doors softly._

_Nobody in the barn was awake to welcome the three. They were all pretty much still asleep and usually don't wake up till one of them smelled breakfast. The newcomers did not recognize anyone in this barn, but one particular cream colored cow with her back turned caught one of their attention._

"_Is that who I think it is?"_

"_What, what is it?"_

"_Over there lying in the hay. I know there's somethin' familiar bout her."_

_The Holstein stepped forward quietly to not wake whoever was sleeping in the middle stable. With her shadow over the sleeping figure, she leaned her head a bit closer to have a look at her face. Her eyes widened when she recognized the sweet innocent face of a young shy heifer they met before._

"_It is her," she whispered. "I thought she might've been done for on the train."_

"_Wake her up. She must know we're here."_

_The Holstein nodded her head and gently nudged Julia's shoulders while whispering her name._

"_Julia, Julia, please wake up," she whispered. "It's us, please turn around and see."_

_That was when Julia began to stir and moan. The newcomers watched her rise steadily on her two front legs yawning. It seemed hard for her to wake up from a peaceful rest._

"_Mornin' folks is it time for breakfast?" she asked groggily, facing the wall with her half closed eyes. "What's happenin' here?" Before she had a chance to lie back down to sleep, Julia paused when a hoof was placed on her shoulder._

"_Wake up Julia," the sweet voice repeated._

"_Huh, am I dreamin'?" Julia gasped, recognizing whose voice might have spoken to her. "But how can I…?"_

"_No Julia, it's really us. Open your eyes."_

_Immediately, Julia turned around and blinked her eyes wearily to focus on her vision. She almost couldn't believe her eyes for a second. There was Flower, Cassidy, and Amelia._

"_Flower…" she said softly, not expecting to hear that voice again. It was Flower standing and staring before her face to face. Julia's eyes stung with tears as she hesitantly flung herself at Flower, causing her to fall on her rump with a thud. But she still stood on her two front legs with Julia embracing her the way most cattle do with each other. Tears streamed down her face as she buried it in her shoulder. Her cheer made her almost feel too shocked to speak._

"_Huh, why' are yah cryin' honey?" Flower asked, puzzled. She was expecting Julia to recognize her and welcome them in the barn, but she hadn't been expecting her to cry hysterically. "Aren't yah happy we're here?" Of course throughout her life, she had never known or seen anyone cry when they're happy, only sad. So it was a little hard to understand._

"_I thought I'd never see you again!" Julia sobbed, tears falling faster. "I could do nothin' to help you at the tracks while those bandits were comin' at me with their guns. A slip off the edge o' a cliff caused me to lose my way in the forest. I assume that if I walk along the high hills, I'd somehow find my way back to the train tracks to rescue you. When night fell afterward, I saw the brightest star in the sky and followed it. But when clouds blocked it, I fell in the snow and just felt like giving up that I'll ever see you again. From that moment on, I was close to the point o' acceptin' the fact that the train was outta my sight for good along with my friends. After all, I was just a silly simple cow filled with false hopes and dreams I was never meant to have. But then this…this reindeer with huge antlers somehow found and directed me toward this barn. He said that a family with two daughters lived on that farm and would take care o' me like my foster mother once did. I still wanted to save ya'll, but I also wanted to find shelter for the night. So I didn't have any other choice to make, but to enter the barn and stay there. Apparently the Andrews family didn't notice I was in here till yesterday mornin' and let me stay for Christmas."_

_Flower finally understood that Julia was crying tears of joy from seeing her friends again. All this time, the young one never stopped thinking about someone other than herself, even when they were apart for two days. It started to give Flower a feeling of crying tears of joy to know that all Julia ever wanted was to be around those who care for her. Whether it meant being in an unhappy household or being lost in the wilderness, she could've cared less as long as they were together._

"_I'm sorry, I talk too much don't I," Julia apologized, sniffling and never letting go of Flower. "Well I'm plum outta breath."_

_The girls giggled a bit at her sweetness. She hadn't changed a bit during their times apart from each other. But that was why they liked her. Deep down Flower regretted snapping at Julia in Wheelbarrow Town, feeling she might not have had any right to act bossy or demanding toward any of her friends. But was Julia's action in town any reason to act that way? Flower decided to test Julia with a few questions._

"_Julia, would you have walked for miles lost in the forest, riskin' your life out in the blizzard just to save us; even after I snapped at yah before?"_

"_I would Flower," replied Julia truthfully. "I would've traveled my whole life, even if it meant facin' deadly obstacles the west has ever known. But everyone kept tellin' me it was too dangerous for a cow to travel by herself in the dangerous woods. I thought that takin' refuge at this barn will help get me my strength back until I was strong enough to continue my journey alone. Now here yah are again. I guess that means the end o' my journey."_

"_Only with findin' us," Cassidy corrected, stepping forward to gather around Julia. "For you, me, Amelia, and Flower, I say it looks like the beginnin' of our journey o' life with the Andrews family. Don't be disappointed with yourself Julia, what matters is that you tried your hardest and that's better than not tryin' at all. I missed you too."_

"_And it seems I'll always miss my dear Tony," Amelia confessed, stepping forward as well. "But your two friends here have taught me a few things. I can't change the past and I must learn to accept what is now. I can only hope that he is safe from harm, even if I'm not there to make sure." Her heart ached from thinking of her son._

_Julia felt Flower resting her head upon her back. She closed her teary eyes as she also felt the warmth from everyone gathering around her._

"_But how did ya'll escape from those bandits?" Julia forgot to ask._

"_Well let's just say our ropes weren't tied to another cow while we was accustomed to the herd," Cassidy answered. "When the doors to the train opened, we were forced to follow along the other stolen cattle without a choice. Our only hope was to wait when one o' the rascals wasn't lookin' our way and then make our escape into the woods. We was lucky alright, but the others were not sadly. The woods are a mighty large place to get yourself lost and the one shelter we found for the night was an abandoned deer cave. It wasn't so much, but it kept us safe from the blizzard. In the mornin', we decided to go look for whatever food might be in the forest, yet it appeared to be scarce because o' the deep snow. O' course we noticed that other animals had a hard time findin' food like we did. Nevertheless, I thought bein' lost out in the woods was better than bein' a captive." She cleared her throat, continuing. "While we grazed for whatever was left o' the grass n' leaves, a man in large clothes spotted the three of us walkin' down a trail without any bells and for some reason, decided to bring us here."_

"_I reckon you've met Mr. Andrews," Julia said softly. "His wife Bethany calls him Ted. He's got two nice daughters named Kim and Emily. They fed me ground corn, grain, and water to drink and cleaned my coat." Her expression turned into frown. "Yesterday might've been my first Christmas with a family, but personally I don't know what all other Christmases would be without ya'll."_

"_Enough cryin' Julia," Flower said firmly, although her throat was lumpy and her eyes welling with tears. There was no strictness in her voice. "You're here safe and sound. And so are we. Riskin' your life out in the snow was a dangerous task to take, but it was a brave one too. If you never took that risk, maybe…maybe we wouldn't be in this barn right now. And I don't even wanna think what would've happened if yah had given up too quickly. From now on, let's not think bout it. If there's anything this experience has taught us, it's that there are times when events such as kidnapping just happen with or without a reason. No one can predict what will happen in the future. But as long as we're together, we'll be alright."_

"_I don't wanna ever leave you again like I've been forced to leave Susannah," Julia responded, her eyes glistening with tears. "What if somethin' like that happens again?"_

"_Oh dear Julia, I mustn't make promises I can't keep. Neither can Cassidy, Amelia, or the Andrews. But I can promise that we'll never stop carin' or lookin' out for you. No matter how hard times may get, nothin' can tear our friendship apart."_

"_That's right darlin'," added Amelia. "And from what I see happenin' at this moment, I believe it means it's time to leave the past behind us back at that other barn and focus on our new life with the Andrews. They're our family now." She saw the tears in Julia's eyes softening. "I know it ain't easy honey, but even I gotta admit there's no use goin' back and findin' the trail hidden in the snow."_

_With those words mentioned, Julia sniffed and wiped the last of her tears away. Her friends were right. Her friends were here with her and always will be there to keep her company whenever she needed it. Even though Christmas was yesterday, Julia believed she received the best gift any human being or animal could ever want. And that was a real loving family. There may still be times when she missed having Susannah by her side, but all the animals in this barn would never leave. In truth, Julia thought that if the Brooks farm wasn't truly meant to be their home, maybe it was here. The thought left Julia confused and she decided to just let it go and accept this new home of hers._

"_What's all the fuss bout in here?" Phil groaned, groggily waking from his sleep. "Huh, where did you girls come from?" then he noticed Julia's tearstained face. "Julia, are yah cryin', what's wrong?"_

"_Oh it's nothin' Phil, really," Julia assured. "These are my friends, Flower, Cassidy, and Amelia. They're the ones I mentioned to everyone. Mr. Andrews found them in the woods."_

"_Well I'll be darned," he said, bewildered. "It seems we now have three new family members in this barn to fill the last three empty stalls. They're yours now girls."_

"_Thanks Phil," Cassidy said politely. She was a bit surprised by his kindness towards them. The last horses she had known were unkind and rude, especially toward Julia. "I think I'm gonna like livin' here."_

"_Me too," agreed Flower. "This barn seems big enough for a whole herd o' horses." She turned to Phil. "You ain't at all like the other horses we had known."_

"_Really, what were they like?" asked Phil._

"_Horrible, rude, conceited, and especially disrespectful to poor Julia," Flower answered, walking next to Julia whose tears had wiped off completely. "But most of all, if it weren't for that wretched Mr. Finch hurtin' Julia, we wouldn't have bothered to run away and unexpectedly end up here."_

"_We know," the other horse Harold woke up, overhearing them talk. "Your friend told us everything. We're sorry to hear what happened to her before. But Mr. Andrews never hits us because he doesn't believe it does any good. As long as you girls stay here, no other man like Hanks or Finch will ever hurt you again. Mr. Andrews makes money sellin' crops, food grown in the garden, and sells us horses to only folks he knows and trusts to take care of us. But he only does that if it is necessary. Don't worry; he won't sell you girls to anybody. Even if he has to sell a cow, he only gives them to friends in the neighborhood. They're friendly folks."_

"_That seems fair enough to me," Julia shrugged. "He'll never sell us, will he?" Despite what Harold said, she sounded worried._

_Before Harold could answer, the doors pushed open when Ted entered carrying large tin pails of ground corn for the new cows._

"_I bet you're hungry girls," he said cheerily. "Here's breakfast served." He poured the corn in each of the empty troughs, including Julia's. Watching the girls come over and eat their breakfast, he decided to tell them. "I've made my decision to keep you girls. It's gonna be a bit crowded, but that's the point. This barn will be mighty full…o' love. And I don't ever plan to sell you to anybody, no matter how hard times may be. Knowin' that I just found you, I feel it wouldn't be right to just throw yah away like yesterdays newspaper, especially with what you might've been through out in the snow. That's right; you're apart o' the family now. My daughters will be happy to know we have more love in this barn to give."_

_The girls stopped eating, their mouths half full as they gave Ted a prolonged Oh-h-h! Of astonishment, and continued staring at him, with wide-open eyes as if they had been spellbound. If the girls wanted to, they would have flung themselves at the farmer to give him a few hugs and kisses of great gratitude. Of course, it seemed that Ted could already tell what was on their minds with the way the girls stared at him. He smiled and continued._

"_Yah didn't think I was just gonna send yah off to market. Heck, I would never do that to my cows. I only send them to friends and family if I ever need the money for somethin'. But that seldom ever happens. My daughters would never forgive me if I got rid o' yah like that, especially Emily. She loves all the animals in this barn, and she'll love yah as well. So welcome home and enjoy it."_

_He left the barn, closing the doors behind him to let the girls be alone for now. The girls took a moment of silence before embracing each other and shouting joyfully._

"_Did you girls hear what he said?" Julia shouted joyfully. "We get to stay here till an old age. I'm not even the least bit worried bout that old age thing. That's years n' years from now."_

"_Sorry we missed out on spendin' Christmas with you yesterday," Flower said with a proud smile. "We didn't think you'd be here. We thought…"_

"_It's alright Flower, you didn't know," Julia replied. "And yah know what, I'm kinda glad you scolded me back in town for runnin' off. It served me right, yet I learned from it and will try not to do it again. If it's not too much trouble, will you teach me everything there is to know bout rules n' responsibilities?"_

"_I don't see why not," answered Flower, shrugging her shoulders. "Since you're still young, I reckon yah might need older guardians round to keep you and the younglings' outta trouble. I'm not perfect, but I'll do my best."_

"_Heck, we'll all help out ma'am," suggested Paige. "I've been a mother for two years. And so has Charlotte."_

"_Finally, a real home of our own," Cassidy could almost feel tears sting her eyes. "Don't know what else to say."_

* * *

_From that moment on, the girls never journeyed out on the road again. They thought there was no need to anymore, feeling safer inside the barn. The road to a loving family was finally over. Even Julia agreed that she had enough adventures to last a lifetime. Everything she needed and could ever want was right here in her new home. Whenever the winter weather wasn't hazardous, Mr. Andrews would allow the animals outside as long as they were kept in the fence, if any of them were ever tired of staying indoors all the time. The whole family couldn't wait till winter was over._

_As soon as it was, Julia was grateful to finally have her first taste of spring outdoors in the warm sunshine. She and the girls could go out in the pasture and eat fresh green grass. All the animals even lost their winter coats when their fur shortened. For the sheep, the farmer had to sheer them for the upcoming summer ahead and sell the wool for a good price. Whenever Kim and Emily were not too busy with school, homework, or farm chores, they would go out and join the farm animals for an afternoon of playtime. And by the time summer approached, most of the herd, including Julia, sat under the shade of the tree as protection against the hot sun. There were still some times when Julia would let curiosity get the best of her, but Flower, Cassidy, Amelia, and the rest of the herd always knew what to do if she ever went too far._


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Each passin' season brought a lot o' changes to the farm, as well as the hard times o' storms, blizzards, and ruined crops. But there were also the times o' happiness, love, laughter, and celebrations to help the family pull through. No matter how hard times might've been, nothin' would ever tear their love apart. Julia and her friends would always have each other and the herd to watch over them. She was seldom afraid o' anything anymore, except maybe the lightenin'. Over time Julia learned to abide by the rules n' responsibilities. She learned never to jump over the fence outta the safety o' the barn near sundown or allow the calves anyplace near the woods. The rules were made for everyone's safety which she gladly accepted and understood. All memories of a cruel life behind walls were left behind for good. But Julia never forgot Susannah, just as Emily never forgot Rose. She had a family now. And she knew that her foster mother would be in her heart forever."

That was where the story ended. From there it left him and Grace in tears, although he couldn't see hers. Only one tear from his eye fell, and then we wiped them away. Grace thought it was a beautiful story about friendship and the meaning of family. And it opened her eyes to see that there are others out there that have experienced the same situation as she once did. The same could be said for calves, foals, horses, even human orphans with no parents. But there were some parts of the story she wondered about.

"Jack, if you don't mind me asking, what became of the cattle and horses at the Horse Shoe Ranch?" she asked curiously.

"Oh that, I almost forgot," Lucky Jack slapped his forehead lightly. "Well after so many years o' endurin' Mr. Hanks' cruelty, the herd snapped and decided to rebel against him by fightin' back with kicks. When that ruffian was injured enough, the horses n' cattle escaped from the ranch, and went out on their own into the sunset, searchin' for whatever adventure might be awaitin' them. And this left Mr. Hanks bankrupt."

"Good," said Grace, relieved to hear that the poor critters lives didn't end in vain on that horrible ranch.

"What a wonderful story Lucky Jack."

Grace and Lucky Jack turned to the doorway outside to find Maggie, Mrs. C, Ollie, Audrey, Jeb, Molly, the piglets, and chicks standing outside. This whole time, the gang had been listening to the rest of the tale long enough to hear how it ended for the characters. All of them were either shedding a tear or sobbing. Lucky Jack had been a little annoyed to find that they have been eavesdropping without them knowing.

"Alright, how long have ya'll been standin' there peepin' in on our conversation?" he demanded, hands on his hips.

"Easy now Long Ears," Maggie said in a teasing tone. It was her voice that surprised the two. "I just wanted to check up and see if our dear Grace was feeling any better. But when I noticed you were telling her a story, I didn't think you'd mind me listening as well. But then the rest of us started gathering around to hear it till the end. We couldn't keep ourselves from hearing you out in here. No wonder you were crying. I almost cried myself."

"CRYIN'!" Lucky Jack was stunned to know that they overheard, but he denied. "Who said I was cryin'. Its allergies that are botherin' me lately. That's why my eyes watered. And yah better not tell any other Buck or anyone else bout it. I never cried at anything in my life."

"Anything you say Jack," Maggie laughed, she knew he was denying it. "We won't tell a living soul, not even Buck." She shook her head, but no one noticed the tip of her tail cross like two fingers. Mrs. Calloway decided to change the subject.

"By the way dear Grace, how are you feeling right now?"

"A little better Mrs. C," Grace confessed. "Still a bit tired though. I think I need a nap."

"Suit yourself missy," Lucky Jack hopped off the hay and skipped all the way out the door. Then he turned around to say a few more words. "Yah sure you'll be alright by yourself?"

"I will be," assured Grace, her eyes halfway closed. "I just need to rest up if I want the fever to go down some more." Grace yawned before she adjusted herself into a comfortable position and sank into a heavy sleep. "Good night."

Although she had enjoyed listening to the story, she was now conscious of being exhausted, and overcome by an irresistible drowsiness. Her cough was still bad and her body felt weak, but she was getting better. The family decided to leave her alone for now and go back to their holiday fun in the snow. Grace thought she could hear the group talking amongst themselves about other stories, yet their voices seemed so far off.

By evening, before going in her house to bed, Pearl gave a tired Grace two spoonfuls of the medicine and sponged her face with water. For Grace, it was good for her to lie down and not have to get up. She loved Christmas, but didn't care anymore if she had to stay inside another day or two. There will still be stories to hear, cheering, and carols to be sung by groups passing from house to house. And the entire family would still be there.

Pearl went inside her house still a little sick with worry and sadness for dear Grace, despite hearing the news that she would be alright. She knew that no other animal deserved to be in that terrible condition of illness. So she decided to say a little silent prayer for her to be safe and protected from harm this season and all through the next year as best as possible, including the rest of her family. She knew that life was never easy sometimes, but it was best to pray for strength, guidance, and protection; especially on the holiest night of the year. Soon afterward, she fell fast asleep on her bed dreaming of tomorrow.

By the next morning of Christmas Day, the elderly farm woman went in the den to check and see how Grace was doing. With both the medicine and thermometer in her hands, she first felt the heifer's forehead and smiled with pleasure. It was no longer burning. To make sure the fever was gone; she carefully slipped the thermometer under her tongue while she was sleeping. With a few minutes of waiting, she took it out and had excitement run through her, almost too shocked to speak.

Grace opened and fluttered her eyes to find Pearl kneeling next to her with the thermometer and wondered if she had put it in or not.

"Grace Darlin', your temperature is back to normal," Pearl smiled.

Grace had her eyes widened with surprise. She wasn't as drowsy or sleepy as she had been for the past three days. Her body felt light as a feather enough for her to want to get up and join her friends again. But Pearl held her back by placing her hand on her chest to halt her from rising.

"Whoa not so fast dear," she said gently. "I still gotta give yah two last spoonfuls o' this here medicine. The doctor says to keep takin' it for three more days. Now open wide." She poured the liquid in a silver spoon and had Grace open her mouth. "There, now I think you're better enough to join your friends outside. But first let me go get your scarf and earmuffs." She rushed back outside.

Outside, the snow wasn't falling at the moment, but the farm was pretty much blanketed by two inches of snow from the past week. And Grace couldn't wait to go out again. Only this time, she would remember to dry off better than she did last time. And won't the girls be surprised to not see her still in bed today.

"Over here girl!" Pearl called out, holding a long thick pink wool scarf and purple earmuffs in her left arm. "It's best to stay extra warm today."

Grace walked over to Pearl and allowed her to wrap the warm scarf around her neck, including the earmuffs over her ears. From there, Pearl shooed her out to join the rest of the family that was already awake and playing in the snow. She had known that the girls' own coats were thick against the snow, but she thought the scarves and earmuffs would be best for better protection. Over by the Christmas tree, she witnessed Ollie, Molly, Larry, Audrey, Jeb, and the piglets playing together in the snow. She laughed to see that the piglets were teasing Jeb again by running around him in circles and betting that he can't catch them. They were all too busy playing in the snow to notice her presence until she gave them a surprised greeting.

"Merry Christmas everybody!" she shouted joyfully. Everyone stopped playing and stared at her wide eyed, gasping, and filled with such great joy that they became almost delirious.

"GRACE, YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" one of the piglets shouted in excitement, dashing over to her with the other two boys behind him and hugging at her legs. The rest of the group followed and started to gather around Grace acting as if she had been sick in bed for years. Each and every one of them wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, utter a thousand words, but instead could only say a few thankful words that Grace truly appreciated.

"We thought you'd never feel better!" Ollie wailed. "But we should've realized your sickness had already been droppin' when we saw you weren't movin' much. It's just…"

"Not another word folks," Grace interrupted in a sweet tone, her voice a bit hoarse from her sore throat. She coughed a little before clearing her throat to continue. "While it's true that I had to stay in bed three days before Christmas, missing out on some fun, I was in no immediate danger of losing my life. I mean…without the doctors help, I really can't predict what might've happened to me if it weren't for him…and for everyone to not…lose hope." Just like her friends, Grace was nearly on the verge of crying when she found how much she meant to them here on Patch of Heaven. "It's just good to be up again." That was all she could think of for now as she let the family embrace her as long as they wanted.

Maggie and Mrs. C had been watching the whole family from the opening of their den a few minutes after Pearl gave them their winter garments. They were not at all surprised to find that Grace had not been lying in her bedding of hay when the two woke up. The girls generally believed that her fever wouldn't take too long to heal. And now it was a great joy to see Grace up on her feet and feeling like herself again. Just like Pearl mentioned, all they had to do was leave the rest of her health to faith.

"Come on, let's go join them," Maggie smiled, walking toward the group with Mrs. Calloway following her.

"Merry Christmas girls," Grace said proudly. "Surprised to see me?"

"I should say so," replied Mrs. Calloway. "But does that mean you're also ready to come out again and stop feeling sorry for yourself?"

"I'm ready for anything," Grace admitted. "There's no need for me to feel sad today, its Christmas Day. A time for being with family and friends who care. What reason do I need to feel sorry for?"

"Well I must say that we're both proud of you today," Mrs. C smiled gratefully. "You're starting to sound like yourself again, but does that mean you feel like singing today?"

"I wish I could, but…" Grace coughed slowly. "…I think I better wait until my cough is gone."

The whole family laughed merrily at her statement. Grace was indeed starting to act like her own self again after all those weeks of her being in a state of depression. Whatever it was that bothered her before, it wasn't going to bother her today; and maybe not for a long while. Only Maggie, Mrs. C, Ollie, and Audrey knew the cause of her depression, but would breathe no word of it to anyone else. Some things were better left unsaid. And they did not want Grace being bothered with questions she might refuse to answer if the whole family found out. Today turned out to be a perfect Christmas Day for everyone. The snow on the ground was bright and crisp, Grace was feeling better, and the symphonic sound of caroling could be heard in the neighborhood a block away. Grace had to admit that it was beautiful, despite still thinking that she could sing a better carol in her own way.

By evening Pearl invited some friends over for Christmas dinner. She invited Sheriff Brown riding on Buck, Dr. Smith, and four friends of theirs who had known Pearl for a long while. It wasn't too many people, but there was enough room at the table in her house. The hope of the holidays was renewed. Thanks to everyone for keeping their hopes and spirits alive for a sick sibling who needed it the most. Grace even thanked Lucky Jack for the story he told her. She believed it was something she needed to hear and understand. If not, she might have still hid herself in the den suffering from more self pity. She was so happy to be out playing games with everyone in the snow that she had to laugh, despite her coughs in between. But she wasn't bothered about it one bit.

**THE END**

**AN:** _That's the end of this story. I know it may not be as exciting as my other stories to some readers, but I still hope it was enjoyable enough. I always like to write something that comes to mind. Now I can go back to finishing my other works. And I did a little research and learned that back in the pioneer days, children didn't get the kind of presents that they get today. They were happy with simple things and might have been lucky if they had one special Christmas. All characters except the fanfiction characters belong to the Walt Disney Company. So if you ever read this again in the month of December, I will be saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year._


End file.
